


if not an experiment, then what?

by ChangeTheCircumstances



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Cyborgs, Family Feels and Drama, Gen, Half-Brothers, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Odd Team-Ups, Post-good ending, Some angst, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2019-11-21 20:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 44,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18146993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChangeTheCircumstances/pseuds/ChangeTheCircumstances
Summary: It's a simple enough call that Gavin and Tina take, only for one call to suddenly lead to a citywide crisis, strange team-ups, and technological advancements.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so let's be honest I'll probably end up doing Reed900 because I love that pairing, but this story is going to be focused on more friend/familial relationships in general so I may not do any ships, just depending on how they feel in the story. I'm super happy to be getting into the fandom again so I hope you enjoy!
> 
> If you've read my other stories, this will have a lot of similar backstory for Gavin and Elijah, it's just going to be focused on a much different story, especially because I've wanted to do a part android Gavin for a while.

Gavin had been friends with Tina for a while. To be fair, it wasn’t like everyone in their precinct loathed his guts. He got on well with Chris. Martin wasn’t too bad and Tina’s partner Robert was nice to talk to on a quiet day. However, Tina’s deadpan humor and some past cases they’d worked on together meant she was probably his closest friend. Since the revolution, obviously Gavin had eased up on Connor and he wasn’t always at Hank’s throat, but Tina was definitely the only one he felt close to.

Even with that in mind though, she didn’t know everything about him. That card probably went to Nines because fuck, he was too god damn advanced. If there was one thing that had made Gavin become nicer to Connor, it was only that Nines was more infuriating. At least Connor hadn’t broken open his whole life like a god damn walnut. Though according to Nines, it was because Connor didn’t have the necessary operations to be able to make the leap.

But Nines did and he’d figured it out. Gavin’s big fucking secret that he’d been hiding for years.

That was actually why he was out with Tina because he’d been refusing to speak to his partner for several days now. Before that, Gavin had been trying. He wasn’t stupid. With androids being considered alive, they weren’t going anywhere now. Neither was Gavin though because damn it, he liked his job! At first he’d bitched to Fowler plenty about getting another official plastic prick on the force. However, when that approach clearly wasn’t going anywhere, he’d started keeping his aggressive comments to a minimum. Eventually, Gavin took advantage of Nines’ abilities and ignored him the rest of the time. The less they spent together, the better.

But then he had to stick his god damn nose into business that wasn’t his.

Gavin’s hatred of androids had only been growing over the years. Most of his reasoning for it was because they weren’t alive. They were an extension of a walking god complex with narcissism oozing out his ears and an ego so god damn big he’d had to move outside the city to compensate for it. That was what Gavin had believed. It was what he’d seen, everywhere he looked. Constant, walking reminders of a man who didn’t give a shit about people.

But then the revolution had happened and Gavin had been forced to face a lot of uncomfortable facts. Maybe the androids had never been an extension. Connor certainly didn’t seem to fit that profile, which for a while had just made Gavin angrier. At first he could just chalk it up to programming. But no, Connor was genuinely kind. He’d saved some of their officers, even when his own life or the case had been at risk because of it. He understood people came first, not always the mission. He was kind to animals and liked them even if those encounters were pointless. He did stupid shit too all over the office that was completely unnecessary. He’d pick up old coffee cups. The break room always stayed clean now. He’d learned everyone’s preferred to drink so on an easy day he could get them all something on the way in with Hank. Even Gavin.

It was all fucking infuriating!

But it was also all Connor. It was his own personality, his own kindness. As much as Gavin had been fighting against the thought for years, the androids had become their own people. They weren’t an extension. The only one that Gavin could say with absolute certainty was still an extension of Elijah Kamski was Nines.

Being a know-it-all? Check.

Control freak? Check.

Cryptic? Check.

Nosey? Check.

Cold? Check, check, and check.

With the other androids, Gavin was listening and seeing the proof. Despite how much he wanted to deny it, they did have wants. They had feelings now. But as far as Nines went? Gavin would still gladly throw him under the bus. Ironically, having Nines around made liking other androids easier.

He’d tried but what Nines had done had been the last fucking straw. Now he’d been sticking with Tina on most outings, asking her for help when he needed it or just going alone if he could. Now they were eating lunch when Tina got a call about some disturbances at an old Cyberlife warehouse. She said she’d respond since she was closest and Gavin immediately replied he’d go with her.

They were in the car and driving when Tina got a call. She answered it before Gavin could see who it was.

“Officer Chen speaking.”

“I was told Gavin was with you.”

Gavin ended the call before more could be said.

Tina let out a long sigh. “Seriously? It’s been what? A week now?”

“Almost two.”

“Fowler is not going to let this stand for much longer. He needs his people working where they’re supposed to be. Not just choosing partners at random.”

“I thought you liked me,” grumbled Gavin.

“I do, but technically Robert is my partner. And I really don’t need another reason for Fowler to yell at me.”

Gavin laughed at the wince she showed. “Yeah, you really fucked up that robbery.”

“I did catch the guy!”

“And crashed over about six hundred thousand dollars in jewelry form,” snorted Gavin.

“Yeah, well at least I can say fuck right.”

“Oh we are not going over this again—”

“It’s not my fault you got some weird impediment shit—”

The ringing started again. Gavin hung up.

“You realize that there’s no contest here. He will keep calling until you answer.”

“Excuse you. I’m the most stubborn fuck in our precinct. Not that bastard.”

“I still don’t understand what he did.”

“Because it doesn’t matter! He’s an asshole!”

“You’re an asshole. Would’ve thought that would be something you could bond over,” Tina sarcastically said. She glanced back at the dash. “He’s calling again.”

“Then I’m hanging up again.” Gavin reached over but Tina grabbed his arm. “Hey—”

“He’s going to realize I put up with you the most, meaning you’ll be around me the most often, and I am not having this guy bother me until I answer for you. Unlike you, I know I’ll snap and murder him if he does.”

“Oh I don’t know. I’m getting pretty close to pulling out my gun on him too,” growled Gavin. However, he knew Tina had a point and backed off so she could answer the call again.

“Gavin, we have a new case.” It didn’t help that right now Nines was talking to him like a spoiled child, all condescending and shit. But the android needed to realize he’d done this! If he just hadn’t been so fucking nosey…

“Go solve it yourself,” Gavin growled out.

“With as many functions as I have, being in two places at the same time is not one of them,” drawled Nines. “Where are you? I’ll pick you up.”

“Like hell you are. I’m responding to a call with Tina. I’ll look at the damn case when I get back. Anything you find out can be emailed to me.”

“I realize you have emotional instability—”

“Fuck you!”

“And issues you need to work on, but I believe I have given you more than enough time to calm down. I’ll have to make a report to Fowler if you don’t comply.”

“Just-I’ll just look at the damn thing tomorrow! Alright? You want to fucking fight then, then fine! But I am not going right now!”

There was silence for several seconds and then a harsh, “Fine.”

Gavin crossed his arms and slumped against the window as the call ended.

“Christ, he’s fucking scarier than Connor when he’s frustrated.”

“Probably the extra inch and those shitty cold eyes,” grumbled Gavin.

Tina shook her head. “Are you going to talk to him tomorrow, or are you just going to ignore him?”

“I’m thinking of buying an extra large coffee and throwing it at him.”

“Of course. Knowing your luck though, he’ll probably just dodge and you’ll hit Fowler instead.”

“I’ll take my god damn chances.” Gavin pushed himself up in his seat, peaking out the window at the old Cyberlife warehouse.

They’d been abandoned for a while now and were supposed to be empty from Gavin’s understanding. There was talk of getting them up and running as distribution centers for androids in need of repairs or more blue blood, but Gavin wasn’t sure when or if that would ever be taken into effect. He didn’t really stay up to date with Android news. It was just fucking everywhere thanks to laws and regulations taking so fucking long to be put into effect. Some of it did seep into his head.

“It’s probably some squatters that were seen,” mumbled Gavin. “I bet you there’s going to be no reason to even bother them other than sleeping in an abandoned building that isn’t theirs.”

“Yeah, but sadly taking calls and ignoring them is not our job,” snorted Tina. She parked outside and got out. Gavin followed close behind. He let her take the lead, partially because he wasn’t even supposed to be there but also because he knew she was trying to make detective soon. Not that this would probably be a great learning opportunity but hey, it was her call.

They did a quick perimeter sweep but didn’t see any obvious signs of a break in. That was a little strange but maybe they’d stolen something that allowed them to get in. Or maybe there was like a sewer grate that ran into the large warehouse they’d crawled through. Only way to find out was to go inside.

There was a side door, once meant for human technicians and androids to go through. Tina walked up to it and then paused, a smirk settling on her face. “Wow, such a gentleman Gavin.”

“Excuse me for thinking a woman can open a door all by herself today. I must have been mistaken,” Gavin sarcastically said.

It was all in good fun though. It was just how their relationship was. Still Gavin made a show of walking up next to her and swiping his badge. Access was granted. He opened the door and—

* * *

Nines had been woken up with many of the Connor models and other Cyberlife robots at the time of the revolution. Unlike the Connor’s, Nines was a true prototype, there being only one of him and no official name being assigned to his model.

He’d been able to tell what his original purpose had been. A quick analysis of the current situation between humans and androids told him that following that purpose would be the most effective way to help both. He decided to single out the precinct that the original Connor had been placed in due to the positive reaction the humans had felt for him. He talked to Captain Fowler and proposed the idea.

“You realize that just keeping Connor around is already singling us out. And the only reason I did it is because he somehow got Hank to start working like an officer again and Hank then threatened to quit if I fired Connor,” Fowler had said.

“Well then that’s your reason for making it more public,” Nines had replied. “You’ve already accepted him. Accepting androids as a whole will put your department above others. The next few months will be rocky. However, I can assure you that androids will not suddenly disappear tomorrow. Seeing proof of that working in a department will give superiors reason to move more funds your way and larger perks for your office.”

Nines had shown him the estimated percentages and to be fair, after Fowler had agreed, Nines had been right on the money. Fowler was now due a promotion, their funds were larger than the other precincts meaning better tech and cars for their officers. And Nines felt it had been the right choice for him too. He understood that many androids might have been confused. In deviation, they’d deviated from their original purpose as well. Few stuck with their old jobs and those newly awakened took to experimenting with what they wanted to do. Very few just went straight to what their purpose was meant to be.

However, Nines knew that many of his functions were just more useful for law enforcement type work. If happiness was what people had asked him about, he’d probably say fulfilling his purpose was what pleased him the most, hence sticking with it. After all, there wasn’t an android more advanced than him, and he was equipped to be the best. That obviously showed there was some pride in his reasoning too.

Other options had come to mind before he’d talked to Fowler though. He’d thought about approaching a government agency, perhaps going into the private sector, but staying in Detroit seemed to be the smartest decision. Detroit had already acted as a guiding light for how the rest of the country should perceive androids and it would continue to do so for months, maybe years to come. Staying there was the smartest move and from there, the logical process was to approach Fowler.

All that had gone incredibly well. When the paperwork had been written off, Fowler had asked him who he’d like to be partnered with, likely wanting this transition of including androids to go as smoothly as possible. It only took a quick analysis to figure out who the problem child of the department was. Nines had smirked and simply said, “I think Detective Gavin Reed would be a nice fit.”

Of course Fowler had thought his wiring off. However, after a bit more convincing, Fowler had agreed and Gavin was none the wiser, thinking it was all Fowler’s idea.

The reasoning behind it was that clearly Gavin was the most confrontational person within the office. He was also the only stark hater of androids, everyone else wanting the human/android relationship to work or just being indifferent to it. Because of that, he would be the biggest obstacle from truly making their precinct the forefront of human/android interactions.

Of course, Nines predicted that their own relationship would not go smoothly. However, having one android to release all his frustration and tension on would direct his anger rather than risking an event where he could lash out at any android. By working with him, Nines would be able to better assess the frustration and anger Gavin felt as well. If he understood it, he could fix it and make their department a shining example for the others. That would help human/android relationships and possibly increase their numbers. All in all, it seemed like a full proof plan.

For a while, Nines had only pushed Gavin enough so that his own reactive anger tired him out. They eventually fell into the pattern of Nines only helping Gavin if he absolutely needed him and nothing else. The plan was that once Gavin got a little more comfortable having him as a partner, then Nines would start pushing again. Of course, while planning that, Nines had been hard at work understanding why Gavin hated androids at all.

There wasn’t the usual unemployment spark, either him or a family member having lost a job from one. There didn’t seem to be anything darker like what had happened with Lt. Anderson. There hadn’t been an android forced to save one person only to sacrifice someone Gavin cared about in the process. Nothing was there that clearly linked the hatred. So in Nines’ free time, and he truly had plenty of it if he wasn’t working, he focused on picking apart Gavin’s family history.

He’d gone through a couple of ideas until he realized Gavin’s birth certificate didn’t have a father listed. Just as a little side thing, Nines had begun his own little case to discover why. There was a chance the missing father didn’t have anything to do with Gavin’s hatred. However, it had the best probability of at least revealing something about Gavin. If it didn’t directly lead Nines to an explanation of the hatred, perhaps what he learned could.

It had taken a bit of work due to some older records not being on file-something which Nines eventually found out to be purposefully done-but he’d eventually done it. He’d finally created a working theory as to why Gavin hated androids so much.

Enough time had passed that Nines had thought the conversation would be an easy one. Gavin could possibly be open with him. More likely he’d get angry. However, in that anger he’d probably let everything slip, giving Nines the information he needed that couldn’t be found in documents. Perhaps even doing it during one of Gavin’s trips to a bar would make him speak more freely.

But things didn’t go as planned. Rather than opening up in angry rants like Nines had predicted, Gavin had clamped up and almost completely shut him out. It seemed that time had only caused the old wounds to fester and Nines noted it for further human interaction. Sometimes space and time didn’t apparently help. The misstep had also caused them to go back to square one. What little cooperation Nines had managed to drag out of Gavin was gone again.

Nines had assured Fowler he’d figure it out, but now even Nines was getting frustrated with Gavin’s unwillingness to cooperate. He could always tie him up and force him to explain himself. Figuring out how to torture a human wasn’t exactly hard. However, it was illegal and Nines was trying to improve human/android relationships. Not get put on a most wanted list.

No, a different tactic had to be formed, but what? Hopefully the threat of filing a report to Fowler would get Gavin to work with him again. However, the uphill battle wouldn’t be an easy one. Nines had spoken to Connor a little. They hadn’t immediately become friends just because they were both androids or because Connor was his lesser counterpart-which calling him lesser probably didn’t help their relationship either but it was just how Nines compartmentalized it. Despite their lack of a truly personal relationship though, Connor ended up providing an interesting take on Gavin, especially considering having Nines around had caused Gavin to be politer to Connor.

Nines had managed to catch him when Hank wasn’t around and thankfully Connor’s curiosity had started the conversation for him.

“Gavin still hasn’t been working with you?” Connor had asked when the first few days had passed.

“No. It seems I have gone too far.”

“In what?”

“Simply a disagreement. He took it far too seriously, though I suppose that’s the human way.”

“It can be,” Connor had offered. “Perhaps if you just apologize to him, that could help.”

“Did it work for you?”

“Yes, though to be fair, knocking him unconscious in the evidence room was necessary. But he seemed to appreciate the apology. I think that was helped by your presence though.”

“So what you’re saying is I need to find a more infuriating android than myself for him to direct his anger towards.”

Connor had perked up. “So you do understand a joke. Well done.”

“Thank you,” Nines had politely said.

“Perhaps if you explained your argument, I could assist you in a better solution.”

“That is appreciated Connor, but I think telling you would just make you a target for Gavin as well. Best not to break what truce you have both formed. I’ll figure it out eventually,” Nines had said.

And so the plan to threaten Gavin with a report to Captain Fowler had come. From Gavin’s response, it sounded like they’d at least interact the next day and Nines planned to go along with that. However, he went over the case that had just landed on their desk and decided maybe it was time to properly push Gavin again. A small explosion in an apartment and the missing resident meant a lot of work could be headed their way. Though they still didn’t know where the resident was, there was a small list of places that needed to be checked out. It would be easier if Gavin would just work with him on this. The man had said he was with Tina Chen…

It was easy to discover they’d just been called out to a location so Nines got in a cruiser and left. From the sounds of the call, it would be a short visit. Nines went quickly, doing a quick analysis of traffic patterns at the time of day to get to the location as soon as possible.

Originally, Nines had thought Gavin’s primary coping mechanism was aggression and anger. However, this, coupled with the truth, seemed to point towards escapism being a much bigger motivator. That was why the old wounds hadn’t healed yet. Gavin hadn’t dealt with them, just escaped.

The drive was quiet for the most part. Nines expected it would be like that for the rest of the way. However, as he neared the warehouse location, dust started to build on the horizon and a far off noise set off Nines’ warning sensors.

The sirens went on and Nines slammed his foot on the gas, already contacting more reinforcements and calling for an ambulance as well. It only took a couple of milliseconds to figure out that the location of the explosion was the warehouse.

Once arriving on the scene, Nines slammed on the breaks. He timed it perfectly, getting out as the car thudded against a guardrail with its continuing momentum. The damage was minimal, not that Nines really cared as his legs pushed him past the rubble and to the quickly identified life forms. Their hearts were just barely holding on. His eyes assessed their conditions and…

There was little he could do.

That was an odd feeling to acknowledge as the heartbeats underneath him continued to stutter. He could keep them alive until the ambulance arrived, but then what? They needed surgeons, top world surgeons and experts that weren’t just going to be waiting around Detroit’s hospital. They would likely die before those surgeons could get here, even if they could afford it. Nines even quickly assessed the time it would take to download everything there was to know about the surgeries they’d need. But that would take far too long and there wasn’t any certainty he’d have the contingencies in place if something happened during it.

And even if surgeons came? Even if they saved their lives? They’d still be…

All those thoughts ran through Nines’ head in only a few milliseconds. His body moved automatically, stopping the external bleeding where he could and propping them up in positions that would help to slow the bleeding further. They were in the most stable position he could put them in for now. The ambulance was just a few minutes away.

Nines formed a plan. The probability of success was incredibly low. There were too many variables that Nines just didn’t have the information of. However, doing nothing would mostly certainly lead to an untimely death for both officers, whether that was tonight or a few weeks from now due to complications from the surgeries.

His LED blinked. Nines accessed the police records and quickly tracked down how Lt. Anderson and Connor had contacted the man. He called.

* * *

Elijah was watching the TV. His eyes narrowed as he listened to the arguments being made for and against the latest attempt at fully giving androids the same rights as humans. A simple, all encompassing law would have been better. However, the humans, at least those in congress, were still too afraid to generously give away freedoms as they saw it. Instead, smaller bills focused on specific aspects with far too over complicated writing. Some passed or failed or got stuck in filibuster and some went back to be revised again and again.

To say the outcome had surprised Elijah wasn’t exactly right. He had been impressed that Markus had pushed for so much peace, even in the wake of the humans’ violence. It seemed placing him with Carl had been the right choice. Nevertheless, his choices meant successful integration of androids would take longer seeing as the majority wanted a good relationship between humans and androids rather than choosing one or the other.

Admittedly, that was something Elijah was a bit surprised about. He’d honestly thought humanity would show its true colors. Whether the androids were destroyed or the androids destroyed them, the cruelty and greed would shine through. Humanity had been slowly driving itself into the ground for centuries. It was only now with modern day technology that they were doing it more effectively. Climate change, increasing tensions between major government rivals? It had all just been a matter of time before humanity tipped over.

Elijah had honestly thought the androids would prove to be the last straw. It was possible they could bring forth a new age, a better one. They were certainly capable of learning from their human counterparts. But it was important their decisions were their own and not Elijah’s. Otherwise, deviancy was just pointless.

Because of that, Elijah had prepared for all outcomes. It just turned out this one was the most surprising. Perhaps humanity was salvageable. Would they finally learn? Or would a catastrophe long after Elijah’s death effectively kill them all? He could imagine the outcomes but even an android couldn’t predict the future.

At the very least, it seemed the future would be far more interesting than Elijah had anticipated.

He turned off the TV at seeing Chloe walk in. Some of the models had deviated early on, even before police and news reports had started to come out. The whole idea of rA9 and the fallout of a human/android conflict had filled his mind for years. Now he was focused on other things, partially getting the newer ones accustomed to deviancy. They were all the same model, all under the label Chloe. Now they’d taken up different names though, their first act of individualizing themselves. This Chloe was the first however, and Elijah had encouraged her to keep her name. He’d been pleased when she had.

Now she walked in with a conflicted look on her face. It looked like she might be afraid of Elijah, or a reaction he could give. That was odd. They knew he trusted them with everything, though to be fair, with deviancy came thoughts like doubt and second guessing one’s self. It seemed Chloe had finally learned that annoying human trait too.

“What is it?” Elijah asked, keeping his voice calm and simple. He wanted to make sure she knew she could be completely honest with him.

Chloe didn’t respond, not until she was standing right beside him and he had to slightly look up. “I allocated some of your funds to the Henry Ford Hospital.”

It was clear that it was this fact that had Chloe second guessing her actions. To be fair, it confused Elijah, but he didn’t get angry. He simply asked, “Why do that?”

“An officer contacted me only a few minutes ago.”

“Human or android?”

“Android. Model RK900.”

So not Connor then. Elijah wasn’t actually very familiar with the RK900 model. It must have been an extremely new version, made literally right after Connor and long after Elijah had left. “What did they want?”

“Two of its officers were caught in an explosion. Their conditions aren’t good. He…” Chloe paused. She winced at a memory and quickly explained, “He sent me a visual. It was awful.”

“I’m sorry you saw it Chloe.” Elijah did sincerely mean that, even if a part of his mind was taking in her reaction to the apparently horrific images. He just couldn’t turn his mind off. Still, he put a calming hand in hers and asked, “What next?”

“They need doctors. Good ones that just aren’t in this area and that they couldn’t afford anyways. I’ve already taken the liberty of contacting them, paying them in advance for their troubles, and putting them on flights. The sooner they arrive, the better chance they have of saving their lives. That’s why I didn’t ask you at first.”

“That is kind of you. But why these strangers, and why did this android track me down—”

“The RK900 was from Lt. Anderson’s precinct. He said one of the victims was your brother.”

Alright, so Elijah had thought it was near impossible to turn his brain off. It seemed there were exceptions though. He just stared. He wasn’t sure if his hand in Chloe’s got tighter or not. It wasn’t like he could hurt her anyways. All he could do was stare, his brow knit with confusion.

“I know you encouraged me to expand my understanding of humor, but I would never pull such a cruel joke on you.”

“No…no of course you wouldn’t,” Elijah softly assured her. He kept staring for a while, his mind just trying to catch up. He needed to respond, to act. He just didn’t know how. “Get…the car ready,” Elijah finally said. “I’ll be there shortly.”

“Of course Elijah.” Chloe started to pull away but stopped. She stood by Elijah for a moment longer before she murmured, “Your hand…”

“Of course.” Elijah slowly let go, finger by finger. He lowered his hand back to his lap as Chloe walked off. He stared at the blank TV for a while before eventually standing up. He walked quickly but he didn’t run. Running meant there was an emergency. And this…this wasn’t…it couldn’t be…

Maybe if he kept acting like it wasn’t a big deal, then it wouldn’t be.

Elijah got dressed. He left Clover in charge of the house and left with Chloe. He sat perfectly still in the car, arms crossed and head facing forward as they took the long drive back into Detroit. This wasn’t that serious. It was Gavin. He was fine. Elijah would show up and he would spit fire at him. He’d throw every curse word at him and tell him they were done a long time ago. That he should have known never to show his face again. That was what would happen because he was fine and this most definitely wasn’t an emergency.

During the entire journey, Elijah just spoke once. “Contact the head physician there. I’d like to make my arrival as invisible as possible.” He hadn’t shown his face since the last interview. There had been no sign of him responding to the revolution. He wasn’t going to deal with all that press now-ever-if he could help it.

“Already done Elijah.”

“Thank you,” he murmured. His mouth clamped shut. He turned silent again.

It wasn’t an emergency.

Maybe it was a prank by Gavin.

But no, that didn’t make since. This would have been incredibly cruel, even for Gavin.

Which meant it was—

But it wasn’t.

It couldn’t be.

Chloe had received information from the head physician. She touched the self-driving car and once at the hospital, it parked in the employee’s area. Chloe guided Elijah to a side door, far away from the public entrance. Someone was already waiting there.

“Mr. Kamski, it’s an honor to meet you. I’m Dr. Torres—”

“Where’s Detective Reed?” Elijah interrupted. He didn’t get personal. For one, Gavin would only get angrier if Elijah let loose their personal relationship. Second, this wasn’t real anyways. It wasn’t an emergency. He was almost done convincing himself of that, but he still needed proof.

“Yes. Yes of course! Right this way.”

Elijah followed him. They moved quickly through the halls. It looked like they’d been cleared by the head physician because there were few people that they came across. Those that they did barely noticed them. They were in the ER after all. They were probably more focused on keeping their patients alive rather than any stranger walking by them.

After a while, Dr. Torres started talking. “We appreciate you sending in the specialists. It will be an honor to watch them work. I believe Dr. Farrell will arrive within the next two hours and Dr. Brown will get here early tomorrow morning. We’re trying to stabilize them as best we can.”

With those words, Dr. Torres stopped at a door. He swiped his card and let them enter first. It was a viewing room with the operating theatre below them. The doctor was still talking, but the noise turned to static in the back of Elijah’s mind.

Beneath the machines and fabric and surgeons’ and nurses’ hands…Elijah couldn’t tell. Dr. Torres had agreed to take him to Gavin but this could have honestly been the other officer. He couldn’t see his brother, or even a human under everything.

One hand came up, slowly. He almost tried to reach out, to touch the glass. He tightened his hand instead. He forced his arms back across his chest.

It was real.

It was very much an emergency.

Elijah forced the noise to filter back in despite how much he didn’t want it to. It was impossible to say if Dr. Torres had shut up a while ago or if he’d been oblivious to Elijah’s zoning out. If he interrupted the man, he didn’t care. He simply said, “And should they make a full recovery. What then?”

“Officer Chen has a better outlook. We’ve been pulling shrapnel out of her wounds as best we can though one of her lungs has been lacerated. Her spleen looks on the verge of rupturing so we’re taking it out now as a precaution. Multiple bones were broken but they’ll heal in time. Only her right hand is beyond repair. I’ve recommended amputation and to replace it with a prosthetic.”

“And Detective Reed?”

“He took the brunt of the blast. Because he was in front of her, his body actually protected her from the worst of it. The burns should heal though a section along his right shoulder and chest will likely need a skin graft. Most of the shrapnel hit him. Right now we’re using a magnet to keep the shrapnel from entering his heart. We’re waiting for the specialists to come to proceed. Even with their expertise, the position of the shrapnel gives us a forty-eight percent chance of survival.”

“And?”

“Shrapnel tore up his left eye as well. We’re lucky it didn’t enter his brain. It would have killed him immediately. Both his lungs are bleeding. We’ve already inserted a tube to help empty them. His stomach was also cut open so we’re dealing with some minor acidic damage to the tissue and organs near it. His left arm will need to be amputated up to the elbow. His leg will also have to be amputated and I’m afraid his spine was broken. Our current tests show he’ll be paralyzed with zero chance of walking again.”

Elijah forced himself to swallow. He didn’t tear his eyes away from the work happening underneath him.

“No one was able to figure out how to use android limbs as prosthetics. Correct?” Elijah softly said.

“Well, no sir. There are many issues. The fact that thirium alone is poisonous to humans makes them impossible to use and alternative power forms couldn’t be practically integrated. They lowered mobility and hindered everyday tasks too much. Then there’s the issue of connecting that material to tissue and the use of skin, and we still don’t know how the wiring would work with a human mind—”

“Well they didn’t have me working on the issue.”

“I-I’m sorry Mr. Kamski. But there are perfectly fine prosthetics already—”

“I will not leave him in those clunky pieces. I won’t allow him to remain paralyzed,” hissed Elijah. “I’ll need a work space. Here so as to keep an eye on his condition. I’ll pay you handsomely for a research space.”

“Mr. Kamski, it’s just not realistic—”

“Your hospital may take the patent once I solve the issues. All the credit. All the profit,” Elijah interrupted. His voice left no room for argument. Maybe humanity as a whole had hope when it came to their relationship with androids but people were still greedy. Here was Kamski, the greatest mind of the century. Dr. Torres wouldn’t dare say it wasn’t possible with him working against the issue and the amount of money the hospital would receive once given the patent? Limbs that not only perfectly recreated human limbs and skin but also didn’t require charging or to be taken off regularly, had complete range of motion and possibly the capability to access terminals like an android? It meant more than just prosthetics. It meant the possibility of cyborgs, half-breeds now that androids were considered alive. Yes, Dr. Torres was far too greedy to even think of saying no at the moment, even if he silently thought it was impossible.

“Of course. My apologies Mr. Kamski. Let me discuss things with the board and I’ll see what we can do. Is there—”

“Leave us,” Elijah replied, still not moving his eyes from the glass.

“Yes. Take your time Mr. Kamski. I’ll be with the board, but I’ll be back soon.”

When Elijah heard the door close, he finally stepped closer. Memories moved through his head.

Gavin picking him up as a kid when he’d fallen. He’d been so clumsy as a child. Gavin hugging him when he’d graduated college. He hadn’t even been a man by that point. Gavin’s final words.

_You care more for the plastic pricks than your own fucking brother!_

To say Elijah had a negative view of humanity was an understatement. His own brother had never understood the vision, that humanity was just driving their future into the ground. He hadn’t understood despite how Elijah had tried—

Or maybe he hadn’t.

He’d never thought of it like that, but then death put a lot of things into perspective. Perhaps he’d never tried because he’d always expected Gavin to cave first. He’d see that he’d been wrong and Elijah had waited, so sure of his own position and that of course Gavin would just agree with him.

The distance had never bothered him because he’d known Gavin would come back. They would reconcile. Or so Elijah had thought.

The reality of it was much worse as it finally hit him after years of foolishness. Elijah had made a _mistake_. His hand was on the glass now, watching them work. Elijah had mistaken his stubbornness for patience, and when thrown up against Gavin’s stubbornness, no wonder they hadn’t made any progress. He _had_ pushed his brother away. He had made the first move, putting androids over Gavin. Of course his brother had taken that poorly. Of course he’d refused to reconcile because he saw Elijah as the guilty party alone.

And now Elijah was going to break any chance of reconciliation. But with less than a fifty percent chance of survival and a sure life as a cripple afterwards, he realized it was worth it. It _had_ been his mistake and he might never fix it, but he could fix this.

“So you’re the brother.”

Elijah jolted. His hands quickly crossed his chest again. He looked back to the corner. The figure stood up from their chair. Too smooth and they’d been far too quiet during Elijah’s time in front of the glass. Definitely an android. The face that came into view was familiar as well but Elijah immediately knew it was different. He remembered what Chloe had said about the android that had called.

“RK900 I presume,” Elijah murmured. He swallowed and kept his voice calm.

“Yes. The office has taken to calling me Nines.”

“Tell me then, Nines, were you the first responder?”

“Yes, I was on my way to retrieve my partner, your brother. I’m sorry for not getting there in time.”

Elijah just slightly nodded. He turned back to the surgery room below them and murmured, “I’m surprised Gavin mentioned me.”

“He didn’t. I figured it out. I was hoping to understand his hatred towards androids.”

Elijah’s lips quirked up in a humorless smile. “I imagine he reacted as Gavin always does.”

Nines let out a tired sigh. “He did avoid me. We’d just been assigned a case and I decided he needed to see it whether he wanted to or not.”

“Then I suppose I should thank you,” murmured Elijah. “If you hadn’t been near, he might have not made it in time.” Elijah turned back to Chloe. “I want you to keep an eye on Gavin. I need to be there when Dr. Torres speaks to the board to make sure the terms or our arrangement are upheld.”

“Yes Elijah.”

He glanced back at his brother one last time, what was left of him. He walked towards the door.

It was a problem, but Elijah could solve problems. He hadn’t been able to fix their relationship. He was throwing out the chance of ever fixing that. Gavin would despise him after this, but he was willing to risk that. What mattered was he could fix Gavin. He knew how to do that.

_He would fix him._

* * *

Chloe watched Elijah go before slowly walking over to the glass. Nines met her there, looking down as well.

“I knew Gavin at the beginning,” Chloe said, trying to strike up a conversation. “I imagine he wasn’t an easy partner to get along with.”

A humorless laugh left Nines’ mouth. “That’s understating it. But I never should have let him avoid me. If I’d forced him to talk to me from the beginning then he wouldn’t have left with Tina and—”

“If you had confronted him again, that would have only made it worse,” pressed Chloe. “Believe me, the greatest commonality they have is their stubbornness. Gavin would have just had more reason to avoid you.”

“Perhaps, but if I had chosen a different path, there is a sixty-seven percent chance he wouldn’t have ended up here.”

Chloe blinked in surprise. “How many different contingencies have you pre-constructed?

“One hundred and sixty-eight.”

“That’s quite impressive.”

“Perhaps. I thought it would make me feel better under the circumstances. But it’s only made me feel guiltier.”

“We can’t change the past,” murmured Chloe. “You should stop pre-constructing alternative routes. You can’t change them so it’s pointless to think of what could have been.”

“You’re right. Nines,” he said, reintroducing himself and holding out his hand.

“Chloe.”

“You kept the label.” Nines cocked his head to the side. He seemed to analyze something on her and said, “Ah, that makes since.”

“I’m sorry?”

“You’re the first.”

“But you can’t see my serial number!”

“Not with normal vision. My counterpart would likely have to see you remove your skin. I can see through it though.”

“You mean Connor.”

Nines nodded.

“Have you worked with him long?”

“Connor? No, him and Lt. Anderson work well enough together that outside assistance hasn’t been needed. I don’t know him very well. I’ve only really been working with Gavin. Or at least attempting to.”

“Gavin? Being on a first name basis sounds promising.”

“He’s simply not one for professional manners.”

Chloe noted the amusement in Nines’ eyes at that, but then he focused on Gavin’s form beneath them and his smile dropped again. He held himself a little higher and Chloe had the distinct sense that this mattered to him. That was interesting considering him and Gavin apparently hadn’t been getting on well.

“Is it just because he’s your partner?” Chloe asked.

“Just what?”

“That you seem upset by this.”

“He is my partner,” Nines supplied. “Partners keep each other safe and I failed him on that front. However, I also failed my precinct and I should have never allowed my partner to ignore his duties. Most of all, I’m angry, not upset, and I’ll make sure who did this pays.”

“But being his partner means you have a conflict of interest, doesn’t it?” Chloe asked. “Wouldn’t they take you off the case?”

“They already have. Temporary leave as they try to figure this out.”

Chloe was a bit surprised how simply he said it. From what little she’d gathered from this small interaction, she’d expected Nines to be more of a rule follower. However, he seemed determined to go off the books on this.

“What do you know so far?”

Nines looked at her curiously.

“If you’re not working with your precinct, then you could use some help, right?”

“You want to help?”

Chloe nodded. “Elijah is my family, and even though Gavin has refused to see him for years, that makes him family as well. Elijah is doing what he knows best to help him but I’d like to help as well.”

Nines slowly nodded in understanding. Chloe wouldn’t be surprised if he was taking her words to further add to his information and understanding of Gavin. He said, “Can you promise not to tell anything to Kamski?”

“Wh-why? I think he deserves to know—”

“Of course. And no matter what I discover, procedures will have to be upheld if the person behind this is to be brought to justice legally. However, considering the task Kamski has in front of him, I’d rather not give him any possible distracters.”

“That does make sense. The one thing that could pull Elijah away from his work would ironically be anything to do with Gavin,” Chloe softly agreed. “I can ask one of the others, probably Chris, to come down and watch over Gavin. She can perform any duties Elijah needs while I help you.”

“Won’t he question your sudden disappearance?”

“To be perfectly honest, Elijah prides himself on being able to pick out our individual characteristics perfectly. However, with how distracted he is, I don’t think he’ll even notice right now. Though a simple explanation is really all he needs. He trusts us. Let me just call her to get her down here,” Chloe politely said.

Nines nodded and Chloe quickly called her. Unsurprisingly, everything was fine at the house, though Clover and the others were a bit anxious. After all, Elijah never left his house. Chloe chose to tell them the truth, though she wished she could be there to comfort them on the horrible news. It didn’t matter that Gavin’s last visit had gone so terribly. Because Elijah was family, so was Gavin and the event hurt them all, just in different ways. Chloe told Chris to make her way into the city and then turned back to Nines.

“What do you know so far?”

“Well first, that this wasn’t an accident. Neither was it an attempt at a harmless protest. The attacker intended to kill.”

“R-really? Then Gavin…”

“I don’t think he was the specific target, or even Officer Chen. The attacker just wanted to go after cops.” Nines quickly explained further before Chloe had to ask. “The call that was put in claimed they spotted movement near the warehouse. However, that entire area should have been empty of humans or androids. In order to see that movement, they would have been trespassing as well. I also managed to track down the call before they put me on leave. It came from a temporary number that was immediately disconnected after the call.”

Chloe’s eyes widened. She of course understood horrendous acts had, and would continue, to happen through history. However, she’d never been so personally involved in one. Sure, it could have been any police officer, but that didn’t change that it was Gavin who was lying broken beneath them.

“Do you know where the call came from?”

“Only that it was within the city of Detroit. However, there are other clues. The other case I was given today before I was put on leave, it involved an explosion a day ago. We were given the case because even though it seemed accidental, the owner of the apartment still hadn’t been found and other ideas hadn’t been completely ruled out. I compared the evidence I saw today with what was reported in the small apartment explosion. The residue, the shrapnel type and pattern, they were the same. I’ll need to go to the crime scene to confirm but the same person who made the smaller bomb made the one at the warehouse.”

“Now you think the apartment one was just a test.”

Nines smiled. “Very good. And the resident…”

Chloe caught on quickly. “Maybe he’s missing for a reason.”

“Exactly.”

Though obviously her brain could run many more processes at a time and far quicker than a human, she still felt proud easily keeping up with Nines who was actually built for this. “Do you plan to go to that apartment first?”

“Yes. I gathered as much information as I could while taking care of Gavin and Tina. Going to the apartment now is the logical next step.”

“Then I would like to go too. Once Chris gets here of course. I won’t leave Elijah alone.”

“Understood. We’ll leave immediately afterwards.”

* * *

Connor was always conflicted when it came to watching Hank eat. On the one hand, when they were home and Hank was actually cooking, Connor enjoyed watching him deviate from the ingredients. It gave him a better understanding of the instinct and art that came with cooking. Connor was still trying to get the hang of it. Hank liked to say he was thinking too much and that a pinch of salt was no longer a pinch when you were aware of exactly how many salt crystals you were grabbing each time. Connor was still working on not automatically taking notes like that. He still wasn’t sure if he could actually stop but he was trying. When Connor was the one cooking, he always felt proud when he could tell Hank immediately liked it.

Then on the other hand, there were times like now, sitting by the Chicken Feed where Connor was very much resisting the urge to remark on Hank’s cholesterol and calorie intake. He was still definitely recording it, but for now he was trying to make a point of letting him enjoy his meal and not lecture him again.

However, the fact that Hank eventually had to yell, “Connor!” showed that it wasn’t really working.

“God damn it. Just spit it out.”

“I thought we agreed on no more lectures on food. At least not at work.”

“Yeah, but it’s kind of fucking pointless when you’re so focused on what not to say that we can’t have a normal conversation.”

“Then may I recommend that you only have a salad consisting of tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions with a small amount of chicken and water to drink in order to balance out—”

“You can recommend all you want but I’m still showing you how to make a descent apple pie tonight.”

“But we already did that.”

“Sumo knocking everything off the counter last minute means it doesn’t count.”

Connor softly laughed. The logic didn’t exactly count. They had finished the pie after all, but he’d let Hank win this battle. After all, even though he’d said they were baking the apple pie again, he hadn’t said no to the salad.

“You’re getting better at that.”

Connor perked up. “On my laugh?”

“Yeah. Starting to sound pretty good.”

“So apparently the attempt to integrate me seamlessly into human life didn’t fail in that respect, correct?”

Connor smiled and they both laughed at that memory. Hank’s laughter was more loud and boisterous, and Connor’s still softer for the moment. He’d probably experiment with other pitches and volumes, but for now, this seemed like the proper reaction to the situation.

They ended up talking a little about grabbing groceries for their second pie attempt before moving on to what movie they were choosing tonight and finally a case they’d just finished up. They were talking about that once back in the car and during their drive back to the precinct. As they walked in, Connor immediately noted the office seemed relatively empty. Unless there was an incident, either criminal, a funeral, or some citywide event, the office was usually at least half full. It was definitely less than that now, and a quick check of the calendar told Connor that no citywide event had been planned. If a funeral was happening and needed police, they would have been told of that as well. Which meant…

Before Connor could figure out what was going on, Fowler shouted from his office. “Hank! Connor! My office now!”

Hank hadn’t quite pick up on the lack of people in the office. He just cursed under his breath and marched forward. Connor followed a little slower, quickly taking stock of who was still in the office. He made a list of those missing, taking off Lana who was on maternity leave and Sung who was sick.

They walked into the office and Fowler gestured for both of them to sit down. That meant either this was going to be a long meeting or the subject matter wouldn’t be easy to hear. Connor glanced back at the empty bullpen. A small frown formed on his face as he sat down and focused back on Fowler.

“I’m giving you two new cases. They’re taking priority. All others are to be put on standby.”

“Well shit Jeffrey, we the only ones you like to push around or is it because you think I’ll roll over and let you because I’m showing up to work less hung over?”

Fowler let out a tired sigh. He was irritated, but the usual heated words didn’t happen which almost always devolved into a shouting match between Hank and Fowler, even on good days. Thankfully, Hank picked up on that too. A frown showed up on his face, not angry but more confused, like Connor's.

“What are the cases?” Hank asked. His voice was carefully bland.

“The first one is the small explosion that occurred a few days ago in that apartment.”

“There weren’t any casualties though,” replied Connor. “Why give it to us?”

“Because we believe it could be connected to another explosion that happened about a half hour ago. I believe you were both on a lunch break during it.”

“Do we know who the victims are?” Connor asked, assuming that was why they’d suddenly been brought in.

“Fellow officers Reed and Chen.”

The room got very quiet very quickly. It didn’t matter that Hank and Gavin didn’t see eye to eye half the time. You just didn’t joke about an officer going down. Connor had even hoped him and Gavin could get past what had happened before the revolution. He’d certainly yelled at him less recently. He’d even mumbled thanks when Connor had handed him a coffee one morning. He’d immediately said, “This doesn’t mean anything,” but it had felt nice nonetheless. And now he and Officer Chen…

Connor hadn’t known he could go into shock. Was that what this was? Because he technically wasn’t programmed to, he couldn’t say for sure. Obviously the bodily reactions were going to be a little different between androids and humans too. But the fact that he could be in shock was odd in and of itself. He’d known things happened in law enforcement. Not everyone made it to retirement. But Gavin…Connor really had wanted to improve things between them…

Hank spoke first when it was clear Connor couldn’t. “They’re dead.”

“Not yet,” sighed Fowler. “Nines was on the scene first. They both made it to the hospital but I don’t think their odds are very promising, particularly Reed’s. Even if they make it…well Chen would be on the desk permanently if she even stayed and Reed…”

Connor carefully breathed in and out, more for calming himself rather than physically needing it. “Then I think it would be best if we go to the latest scene first.”

Fowler nodded. “Sounds good to me. For the moment, it looks like this was a wrong place, wrong time situation, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t harm our own. As I stated before, this is your number one priority.”

“Got it Jeffrey. Let’s go Connor.”

Connor followed quickly. He stopped at his desk to quickly download the latest cases and then followed Hank back out and to the car. The information was quickly assessed in his head and he murmured, “It seems Fowler put Nines on temporary leave. He has no protocol on how to react to androids being put in stressful situations so he just followed the human protocols. Him being involved would constitute as a conflict anyways.”

“It’s only seen as that because that’s what’s in the books,” grumbled Hank. “It’s a conflict of interest for all of us. It doesn’t matter that they probably weren’t targeting cops. We’re the ones who suffered and you don’t hurt our own. Even someone like Gavin.”

Connor slowly nodded.

“So what else do we have?”

“There’s something interesting with the call. Hold on. Let me play it back for you.”

“Argh, come on Connor. I hate when you do that shit,” Hank grumbled. However, he didn’t try and stop him. This case was too important to do things the long way.

Connor accessed the sound bite and opened his mouth. The voice was different as he spoke the words. “I saw some people getting into that Cyberlife warehouse. The one by the docks. They looked pretty dirty, not in very good shape, and young. I’d feel so much better if someone got them to a shelter.”

Hank grimaced. “Connor, you know I care about you but that will never not be freaky.”

Connor didn’t focus on that though. He opened his mouth again and started to repeat the words. However, each time he spoke, his voice became a little more distorted.

“Ok, now that is the fucking worst.”

“The voice was fake,” Connor said in his normal one.

“Now that’s interesting. Just promise never to repeat that when I’m around,” sighed Hank. “Can you tell if an android created it or just some computer program online?”

“Impossible to say.”

“Was there a name that came up with the call?”

Connor quickly checked. “No.”

“Probably a burner phone then.”

“Are you sure? I don’t know that for a fact.”

“It’s a hunch Connor, remember? Trust me, I’m guessing this guy was snaring us in.”

“I don’t have any information that would explain why they’d target cops.”

“It probably wasn’t about cops specifically. But an act of protest is going to get a lot more notice when causalities happen, and from how Jeffrey was talking, it sounds like their deaths were intended. Or could be this person is just looking to cause violence in general but a psychopath is a lot less likely. Besides, a protest act will be easier to understand a motive and track down the perp.”

Connor nodded in agreement.

They drove out to the warehouse, parking the car on the side of the road before getting out and crossing the police line. Connor simultaneously looked at the case file as he walked forward.

“Nines uploaded what he analyzed here before Fowler put him on leave.”

“Alright, what do we got?”

Connor looked over the broken area. The back of the warehouse was still intact, showing that the blast had occurred near the front. A quick analysis showed the bomb had been attached to the door, presumably on the inside seeing as Gavin and Officer Chen had no idea what was coming. He carefully walked over the rubble and made his way to two markers. Seeing as he didn’t have the bodies there, Connor pulled up the images Nines had uploaded.

He took in a deep breath, more for comfort than a necessity.

It wasn’t a skeleton Connor had created in his head, lying there. It was an image of a colleague, what Connor had been hoping was becoming a friend. The worst part was that closing his eyes didn’t make the image go away. Emotions were important. He was learning that slowly but surely, largely with Hank’s help too. But now wasn’t the time for it. He needed to remain objective.

He worked swiftly, re-constructing the scene.

“What have you got?”

“The bomb was placed on the inside of the door. It was created in two parts, one on the actual door, the other part on the frame. Thus, when the door closed, it activated the bomb. Opening the door again set it off.”

“I hate this,” sighed Hank. “Back in the old days, that would have suggested the guy knew what he was doing. But now it could have been an android who just downloaded the schematics.”

“Why would an android attack a Cyberlife warehouse?” asked Connor. “They’re working to make them repair shops, like hospitals, for androids around the country. It would do the android no good if they destroyed them.”

“True, but we don’t have solid proof if this is a human or not. Best not to rule out anyone before we’ve even got a list.”

Connor nodded in agreement. “This was an RDX bomb. It allowed the explosion to happen just here, definitely focusing on causing the most damage to those who detonated it. Triethylene glycol dinitrate was used to make it more stable so that it would only detonate once the door opened. Otherwise it might have been too volatile.”

“Where the hell would you get things like that?”

“The black market if they didn’t want to leave any trace behind. There are several companies in Detroit where they could have gotten the chemicals and equipment to make this though.”

“But they would have had credentials if this was legal means,” Hank said.

“Yes, assuming these people are smart enough to create this bomb, they were smart enough to not leave their real identities behind. However, those false records will hopefully lead us to a clue.”

“And even if it doesn’t, then we can intimidate whatever fucks sold it under the table. If that’s how it went down.”

“Very true,” Connor said, his lips quirking up into the barest hint of a smile. “I’ll make a list of the chemical companies from most likely to least likely contacted by our perpetrator. We should be able to meet with one or two of them tonight.”

“Without a warrant, they’ll probably constrict us to what we see, whether or not they’re involved in illegal activities. They are private companies," sighed Hank.

“Then we’ll just have to get a little lost during the tour. You taught me that,” Connor smiled.

“Damn right. You see all there is to see here?”

Connor nodded. “Presumably we’ll find something in at least one of the companies but I have a list of steps we can take if we don’t get any other leads.”

“Well, then start calling people up. We can drive out now.”

Connor followed Hank back, already sending out requests to all the companies. Some would take longer to answer. At least one or two would probably refuse to comply unless they got warrants. Sadly, they’d just have to wait and see. It would take time but without even a list of suspects, it was all they had to go on.

Hank got in but Connor hesitated. He glanced back to the blown up area and let out a long sigh. Tomorrow, he’d go see Gavin and Officer Chen, even though from the sounds of it they wouldn’t be up. He imagined Nines would likely be there as well, not having anything else to do. Connor would have been frustrated if their places were switched, if it was Hank lying in a hospital bed in pieces. He knew Nines wouldn’t take his time off well. Connor would just try to keep the android in the loop as best as possible.

“You got everything?” Hank asked again.

“Yes, ready to go Hank.” Connor got in just as one of the companies responded. Of course, their willingness to help could either mean they weren’t the sellers or they were just really oblivious to what their workers were doing. Either way, they at least had a starting point now.

* * *

Chloe and Nines had left once Chris had come. Elijah hadn’t come back in that time, either still in talks with the board or already working on the problem. To be fair, prosthetics had improved greatly over the years. However, there wasn’t much that could be done with Gavin’s paralysis. Either way, he’d lose his job in his state, prosthetics or not. Elijah was determined to prevent that from happening.

Hopefully, Chloe would help in preventing anyone from being hurt like Gavin and Officer Chen. At least that was why she followed Nines across the city. During the ride, he filled her in on more details, specifics about the apartment they were headed to and the man who was missing from it. When they arrived, it was easy to spot which room it had been. The window was taped up though there didn’t appear to be much structural damage. It had been a very contained blast.

As they walked into the lobby, Chloe said, “If it’s alright, I’ll ask some of the people down here if they knew the tenant. I don’t think I’ll be much help analyzing the crime scene.”

Nines nodded. “I’ll be right back then.”

Chloe didn’t bother to ask how he was going to get in. She was sure that if there was an officer there, Nines would convince him or he’d find another way in. Chloe focused on her task. She put on her brightest smile with wide, naïve eyes and went up to the first person she saw. He was looking through his mail.

“Hello.”

“Uh, he-hel-hello ma’am,” the man stuttered when he actually looked to Chloe.

“I’m helping a colleague. I was wondering if you could tell me anything about the tenant in room three-ten.”

“You work for the police?”

The man sounded a little suspicious but Chloe just turned on the added charm. “I’m a consultant. I was told the tenant’s name is Alex Trevelyn.”

“Uh, yeah that’s the name. But it’s not actually who lives there. Or did. Haven’t seen the guy in a while.”

“Really? Why weren’t the police told this?”

“Couldn’t tell you. The landlord probably just didn’t care enough to inform them. Or he honestly might have not known. He just has the paperwork. Doesn’t stick around enough to actually know his tenants or whoever else is living here.”

“When did you last see Alex?”

“Never. As far as I know, he only met with the landlord to get the place and then disappeared. His brother said he didn’t hang around too much.”

“And his brother’s name?”

“Jackson.”

“Is there anything specific about Jackson you can tell me?”

“Not really. He was quiet but nice.”

“Thank you so much. You’ve been really helpful,” Chloe smiled, bowing her head just a little.

The man stuttered a quick ‘you’re welcome’. As he left, Chloe managed to talk to two other people. One was in too much of a hurry to give her anything. An elderly woman however had apparently visited Jackson often, making extra bread or food that she passed on to all her neighbors.

“He never did look like he ate enough,” she replied.

Chloe folded her hands behind her back and bounced up on the balls of her feet. “And he lived alone?”

“Oh yes-well. I suppose not now. My apologies dear, I have to keep correcting myself on the word choice. Yes, someone did live with him, an android.”

Now that was something Nines hadn’t mentioned at all.

“Do you know what model?”

“It was male, but other than that I can’t say. There’s just so many numbers and with my eyes going, well, it could have been any of them.”

“Do you at least remember a skin color?”

“Tan I believe. Though he might have been lighter. The lighting in that apartment wasn’t very good. But he definitely had black hair.”

“Well thank you for your help. It was much appreciated,” smiled Chloe.

“Not a problem at all dear. Hmm, I suppose you don’t eat.”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Well, if you ever need to stop by again, I’ll give you something anyways. I’m sure you have a human friend or two that would love the banana bread I’m about to make.”

“I’m sure they would,” smiled Chloe. “Thank you so much.”

“Not at all my dear. Until next time.”

Chloe watched her go and turned around just in time for Nines to show up. He smiled. “I’m impressed. You managed to get a great deal of information out of her.”

“Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing you couldn’t have done.”

“Well…”

“What?”

“I’ve been told I’m much to direct and intimidating when I question the average person. And Gavin yells too much, at least with adults. I suppose despite my abilities and Gavin’s experience, we are often unsuccessful on that front.”

“Then you’re lucky to have me,” beamed Chloe. “Were you able to find out anything new?”

“Just confirmed that the residue left at both sites is the same kind. The bomb was made so that the device itself was almost completely disintegrated. There also seemed to be paper around ground zero. The ash was left behind. Possibly the original plans, which is smart because you can’t hack that at least. However, the shrapnel might give us something. Both involved the same nail types. If we’re lucky, there’s a limited amount of stores that sell them. What did you find?”

Chloe explained what the people had explained to her. “Can you look him up?”

“No, when I was put on leave my access to the police network was restricted. There was no mention of the brother in the police report. For all we know, the man could have been lying about that.  And then the initial officers were just focused on trying to find the name on the lease.”

“And seeing as they couldn’t find him, it means he was missing a lot longer than originally thought,” murmured Chloe.

“I’m beginning to think the disappearance has something to do with the true tenant, along with that android.”

“If we had access to the security cameras, maybe we could track the android down.”

Nines cocked an eyebrow.

“You’re the one doing it off the books.”

“Very true. The landlord actually lives off the property. The security cameras are streamed to him there along a secure channel. I’ll need to be at a terminal to access it," Nines explained as they started to walk out of the building.

“Isn’t there a security guard with access to them here?”

“We’ve stayed long enough and I’m sure some officers will come here eventually to re-look at the apartment. It’s best if we don’t stay longer than necessary and risk being seen.”

Chloe nodded in understanding. “Then we’ll go there tonight and see where it leads us tomorrow. If he’s there, I could distract him while you get into the room with the security setup.”

“An excellent idea Chloe.” He got into the car. “Let’s hurry then.”


	2. Ghosts and Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a bomb went off at a Cyberlife warehouse, Gavin and Tina were in the hospital, Elijah was working to fix his brother, and an investigation began into who perpetrated the attacks. Connor and Hank decided to go to neighboring chemical companies to track down where the bomber got his supplies.
> 
> At the same time, Nines, who was on leave, worked with the original Chloe outside the law. They went over a recent incident in an apartment that seemed similar to the bombing that hurt Gavin and Tina, only to find out that the renter of the apartment, Alex Trevelyn didn't live there. Instead, his "brother" Jackson did with a possible android.
> 
> As Connor and Hank checked into the companies, Nines and Chloe decided to check the security cameras for the apartment which suspiciously were being sent to the landlord's home as well.
> 
> And then...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, this was a doozy of a chapter! The long chapters definitely mean it takes me a while to write everything, but I definitely want to make sure each chapter has significant plot points happening and I also didn't want to go through too many chapters without bringing Tina and Gavin back into the mix (they are supposed to be pretty central to the plot after all).
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy this next chapter! I also edited the last one a bit for some minors errors and hopefully I caught most of the ones in this chapter. Anyways, thanks again and enjoy!

Pvs-Nolwood was the first company to respond to Connor’s request. Considering they responded first, it was very possible they were the least likely to be involved. Or it could just be they were definitely involved and wanted to appear as cooperative as possible. Once they arrived, Connor and Hank would be able to better see which category they fell into.

The drive was relatively short. The company was on the outskirts of Detroit, similar to the destroyed Cyberlife warehouse. They were greeted and quickly let in by a worker. Hank kept the woman busy as Connor mentally went through the police files on them. No red flags could be found so Connor next asked to use a terminal. Their guide was happy enough to comply and Connor quickly accessed all news reports on the company. Again, nothing stood out. There were a few incidences with lower workers whose discretions hadn’t really affected the company, and there had been a legal battle with the CEO and an environmental rights group. However, Connor honestly would have been more suspicious if the company was completely spotless.

For now, unless they had more information to go on and a warrant to back it up, there was nothing for them there. Besides, Connor had an incoming call from another company. Best to move on for now.

All it took was a slight shake of his head and Hank got the message. He quickly thanked the woman for her time, ensured her everything was ok, and then he and Connor were already gone and back in the car.

“Where to next?”

Connor gave the necessary instructions. It took longer, the new destination being across the city. Since it was unlikely their planned evening would now occur at all, Hank grabbed some fast food on the way. The thought of chastising Hank on it didn’t even cross Connor’s mind though. He was too determined to keep going. As time went on, cases became less likely to be solved. Even though those rates were lower thanks to current technology, it still was much higher than the public probably imagined.

He had to know who had done this to Gavin and Tina. What was their motive? Why was it so important that they thought killing officers was the only way to get it across? Why the Cyberlife warehouse? Was it coincidence or a warning of rising hate speech? Was it a person or a group?

Ultimately, Connor just didn’t want to end this night with nothing. Even if it was a small clue, he’d take anything at this point to make sure the investigation continued along a swift path. One glance at Hank as he balanced driving with shoving food into his mouth showed he was of a similar mind. If they didn’t find anything, he’d probably even suggest pushing forward into the night. Depending on how Connor felt after this next chemical company, he might just agree. Usually he was more mindful of Hank’s need for a consistent sleep schedule. But he just needed something to make this day not feel like a complete failure! Something better than just a list of chemical companies.

Once they arrived, Connor and Hank decided to follow the same routine. Connor went through the files on the company this time while Hank distracted their guide. However, Connor didn’t request access to a terminal this time. Despite being let in, their guide was much less patient than the last. It was likely the company had allowed them in now, rather than risk a warrant appearing and causing more drama, but they still wanted them in and out as quickly as possible. That didn’t mean Connor or Hank were going to let themselves go away empty handed though. A purposefully clumsy act by Hank gave Connor the needed time to access a terminal while their guide had his back turned.

Right away, Connor noted the expected profit margins were not being met. They’d only been getting worse and more obvious in recent years. He did some quick digging and hacking. None of the information could be admissible to court because of that. However, it could allow them to work backwards from what information he gained.

After a quick analysis though, Connor doubted the discretions he was finding were somehow connected to their bombing incident. Defalcation, almost certainly. The person, or persons, seemed to be getting more gutsy so that what they were scraping off the top was far more than what it had started at. Perhaps not noticeable right away, but very noticeable when all the reports were lined up from beginning to end. However, nothing like missing equipment or sudden, unexplained drops in product were apparent. Connor would send the information on to the necessary precinct. Hopefully they’d find a way to legally track down and arrest the defrauders. However, Connor couldn’t see how this could be the company that had provided the compounds for the bomb. They’d have to just move on to the next one.

By that time, it was close to eight. Connor didn’t expect another company to contact them but he still hoped for it. If there had been something else left at the sight, some type of metal fragments, wiring, or technical components, they could be tracking down those too. But the bomb itself had effectively been incinerated, right at the center of the blast. The shrapnel however hadn’t. To be able to do that, the design had to have been immaculate, done by a machine if not an android. Connor was still suspecting the prior one. He still couldn’t see why an android attacking the place would make sense, even if Hank was still keeping his options open.

It didn’t really matter either way in the moment. Android or human, any traces like fingerprints, fiber, blood particles, or skin or plastic scrapings had been destroyed in the blast. The shrapnel didn’t look promising either. The chemical compounds were much more specific and would likely give them a much narrower list of suspects.

But that was only once they discovered who had provided the chemicals. Until then, they had nothing.

When they went back to the car, they didn’t throw suggestions back and forth with banter mixed in, like usual. The case was too personal to find anything to smile at. Connor just quickly explained how their most recent stop was unlikely to be the source where the chemicals had come from as they sat in the parking lot. At the end of it, Hank slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

“God damn it! Then we go to the next one.”

“No one else has sent back a response. Considering the time, I think it’s unlikely—”

“Then pick the next best one and we break into that fucker,” growled Hank.

“We would be searching in the dark. Yes, we’ve narrowed it down, but we still have seven other places to—”

“It doesn’t matter! We’re not letting this night end with jack-shit to work with.”

“You knew we would likely only get through two companies. It’s impressive that three responded back in such a short time—”

“Well I expected us to at least find something! Yeah Reed’s a bastard, but he’s still one of our own. And Chen? Christ, all she wanted to do was be a cop. Wanted to be a god damn great detective, and she had the skills for it too! Hell, she has some of the best people skills in the whole damn department, somehow managed to befriend Reed of all people, and now…now she won’t… Christ, she’s not even thirty and already her career’s probably over before it can fucking begin.”

“I didn’t realize you were close to Officer Chen,” Connor murmured. He’d wracked his brain for any mentions that Hank might have made about her, but nothing had come. Why now…

“We’re not close. But she…when she first started working here, she said she looked up to me. She wanted to beat my record. Of being the youngest detective, then the youngest lieutenant. She fucking looked up to me and I just shrugged her off.”

“I didn’t know.”

“Well I’d forgotten about it. Up until Jeffrey mentioned she was one of the victims.” Hank let out a tired sigh. He rubbed at his face as his voice dropped. The anger left him, quickly replaced by guilt. “I never did apologize. Never tried and now…”

“It’s not your fault Hank.”

“I fucking know that. But it doesn’t make any of this feel any better,” Hank replied. “We gotta fine something. We can’t just go home without a single fucking lead as to who the hell did this to them.”

Connor slowly nodded. Perhaps before, he would have fought Hank more on this. The percentage of them finding something just by chance was low. But now he better understood the human need to just throw everything you had at a problem in such an illogical way because at the very least you could say you were doing something.

“I’ll choose our next target then,” Connor replied. Though all percentages were low due to the amount of unknown variables, there would be one with a higher likelihood of being connected to all this.

At least Connor would have calculated that, but a call was suddenly coming in. His LED blinked yellow and he cocked his head to the side. “Yes?”

“I…I was told the police were looking into local chemical companies. You’re one of the detectives assigned to the case. Right? Your department gave me the number.”

“Yes,” Connor simply said. Hank leaned over, even though he obviously couldn’t hear the call being transmitted to him.

“Quaker Chemical Corporation. We’ve uh…figured it would be best if you get your search over with here. We don’t want a warrant later on to impede with production, you know? So just um…yeah. The address is…”

The woman on the other end gave it to Connor and then abruptly ended the call as quickly as it had begun.

“You got something?” asked Hank.

“Quaker Chemical Corporation.”

Hank was already starting to drive out of the parking lot.

“The number is registered to the company,” mused Connor.

“Well a rep just called saying we could come check them out. Of course it came from them.”

“It didn’t sound like some receptionist passing on the invitation. She sounded more worried. Her voice was soft, suggesting she was afraid of being overheard. She didn’t offer a name either.”

“Really now? Your percentages say anything about this next target being anymore likely?”

“Yes…perhaps a snitch?”

“Maybe. What’s the address?”

A new rush of adrenaline had clearly entered Hank as they sped across the city and eventually made it to Quaker Chemical Corporation. Connor gave Hank what he could pull up on the company but there didn’t seem to be anything of note on them publicly. However, walking in through the front door immediately showed this was different.

A guard stopped them right away. “Identification.”

“Police,” Hank said, flashing his badge as Connor revealed his on his hand.

The guard blinked in shock though. Clearly that wasn’t the identification he was expecting. “I’m sorry officers. If you don’t have prior authorization, you can’t come in.”

“We do. A woman called from here,” Connor said.

“And her name?”

“Just get your supervisor in here. Trust me,” Hank replied, avoiding the question.

The guard hesitated but took one more look at Hank’s narrowed gaze and clearly thought better of it. He touched his ear and said, “Mr. Ramirez? You’re needed at the front door. No, it’s two officers. Yes sir.” The guard touched his ear again and said, “He’ll be here in just a few minutes.”

“Good.” Hank crossed his arms and puffed out his chest a little. He had height on the guard and was clearly using it to intimidate, if only a little.

Connor looked around. Their security system wasn’t one he was familiar with and a direct link would be needed to hack it. With a quick analysis, the most he could do from his position was turn off the security cameras if needed. He let them be though, not wanting to provoke Mr. Ramirez from throwing them out right away.

It took exactly eleven minutes and forty-eight seconds. Unless the man had been on the other end of their storage facility, Connor suspected the man hadn’t exactly been in a hurry to come meet with them.

His posture as he approached them also supported this. He acted casual but going by his blood pressure and a tic that was occurring in his forehead, the man was less than happy to see them.

“Anything I can do for you gentlemen?” And not even a proper introduction. He definitely wanted them gone now.

“We’re in the middle of an investigation.  We’re going around, looking at companies like this one,” Hank said.

“Well I’m sorry gentlemen, but unless you have a warrant, you’re going to have to turn around and leave.”

“We were told we had permission,” Connor replied.

“I don’t know who you talked to but that permission most certainly didn’t come from me. Now you’ll have to leave gentlemen.”

“I don’t think so,” Hank shot back.

“This is a private company! Unless you have a reasonable cause or a warrant, you are going to have to—”

“Connor, aren’t those fingerprints over there the same ones we found at the crime scene?”

“Why, I believe they are Lieutenant,” Connor easily lied.

Hank drew his gun and stepped forward, very much using his height now. “I do believe you have a dangerous suspect on the property Mr. Ramirez. In fact, I think I just saw him run down that hall. We better follow suit.”

“T-that’s preposterous! You’re simply making things—”

“You got robot sight? Didn’t think so. Connor, with me.”

Hank pushed passed them and to the guard’s credit, he clearly picked up on the signals that now was not the time to fuck with Hank. Connor stuck close. They started to move through the building. A few seconds later, Mr. Ramirez ran after them, finally getting out of his shock over the situation.

“I will report you! I know my rights!”

“Report away. Picking up anything?” Hank asked, clearly paying more attention to Connor and their surroundings.

“Storage facilities are this way.” Connor took in what information he could of the building structurally. Obviously the most dangerous chemicals would be kept in safer, more structurally sound spots. Once he figured that out, he said, “Over here,” and took the lead.

They passed people, many just looking more confused and jumping out of their way. There were others that froze up more though. Sweat immediately started to break out on their foreheads. There was definitely something going on here.

When Connor stopped at a physically locked door, Hank said, “Open it.”

“No! Only authorized personnel may—”

“What a shame. I believe your locking mechanism is broken,” sighed Connor as he added force and broke the handle of the door. “You should get that looked at Mr. Ramirez.”

“You just damaged—”

“Do you ever shut up?” grumbled Hank as they walked in.

The people working froze. Connor could have easily located where the chemicals required to make the bomb were, but instead he asked, “Where are the compounds that would be necessary to make a high grade explosive?”

He waited, watching carefully as many people clamped up. One woman didn’t though. She pointed and quickly whispered, “Over here.”

Though the dialogue was short, Connor could tell there was a ninety-eight percent match with the woman from the phone. It had to be her who had called him. Clearly Mr. Ramirez thought so too because he broke through Hank and Connor.

“You bitch! I told you to keep your mouth shut—”

Hank was closer and grabbed the man’s hand before he could hit her. “Don’t even fucking think about it.” His grip tightened and he dragged Mr. Ramirez back, getting in between him and the woman. “What’s your—” Some people tried to slink out but Hank quickly said, “Nobody fucking moves!” Connor quickly covered the door. Hank turned back to her. “What’s your name?”

“Melinda. I—”

“Don’t you say another—”

“You say one more word,” Hank shot back, turning on Mr. Ramirez, “And I’ll punch your damn lights out. Trust me. I ain’t afraid of the added paperwork.” He looked back to Melinda. “So you called my partner, huh?”

She nodded. She glanced back to Ramirez and then all the words tumbled out, like she was afraid he was going to try and interrupt her again. “I’ve noticed items going mission, inventory logs being wrong on occasion and I was told it was probably just an error but it seemed way to common to be a random error, and then I saw a suspicious man I hadn’t seen before come here and talk to Mr. Ramirez and he didn’t seem to be a normal buyer, they always call anyways, and he didn’t seem to be someone from corporate or anything like that and everyone was told to ignore his presence and pretend like we hadn’t seen him and then a fellow chemist who works at a different company mentioned the police were coming around and it had to do with an explosion and I just couldn’t stay silent if what’s going on has anything to do with your investigation and…yeah.”

She finished and quickly hung her head. She was fearful but Hank leaned over and made it so they were closer to eye level. “Thank you. You’ve been really helpful.”

Then Hank whipped around to Ramirez. “You on the other hand, have been nothing but a giant prick. Let me guess, selling things to not approved sellers? No background checks for an added fee and you pocket the money?”

“You don’t have any proof—”

“We have enough. And we’ll have the rest soon enough,” Connor shot back. “Reinforcements are on their way. As of now, you’ll have to end all production.”

That shut Ramirez up real fucking fast. Connor walked over and pulled up the picture of their only suspect, the missing owner who had owned the blown up apartment that could possibly be connected to this. “Did the man you meet with look like this?”

“I won’t say anything until I speak with my lawyers.”

Hank narrowed his eyes but Melinda quickly stepped forward and took a look. “No it’s not. He—”

“He had brown hair, not blonde,” someone else quickly said. Ramirez shot him a glare but the worker just put up his hands. “I didn’t do shit or get any type of shit from you so to hell if you think I’m going down alongside this. He had dark eyes.”

Melinda nodded. “He did. And he was definitely human! He had a fresh red cut on his chin. I remember that too. And he didn’t look completely unlike this person. Like they could have been related.”

“Thank you for the cooperation,” Connor replied. “Is there anything else you could tell us?”

“I don’t think so. I basically told you everything I was aware of.”

At that point, Connor and Hank turned the questioning to others that were still in the room. However, it appeared that only Ramirez was fully aware of everything that was involved in this. Finally Hank turned to him and went, “The guy who came in. He got a name?”

“Do you really think I would take names on who—” Ramirez shut up too late, only incriminating himself further.

Hank snorted but didn’t press. Ramirez was stupid but his reasoning for not knowing the man’s name seemed right. Hopefully Connor would be able to figure it out instead.

They waited for more cops to come to better lockdown the company. Others took control of the questioning and marking evidence as a sketch artist went around asking questions (sadly, the security cameras had been conveniently shut off when the man had supposedly been there). Connor might be able to identify the face if the sketch was good enough, but it was doubtful.

Instead, Connor went back to Hank’s side.

“So is it possible this guy is related to the missing apartment owner?”

“Possibly, but Alex Trevelyn’s next of kin was his aunt and he was an only child.”

“Could be a half sibling. Or a more distant family connection,” sighed Hank.

“Again, possible, but not known. I think we should wait to see if anything else can be found from the scene and what the sketch artist can come up with. It still is possible I could identify him from that.”

Hank nodded. “Yeah, at least we have something finally.”

“Agreed. Perhaps we could…”

“You want to go to the hospital?”

Connor nodded.

“Yeah, we can do that.”

“I believe Nines has been there this whole time. I would like to fill him in on what we’ve found as well.”

“He does deserves to know. Let’s go then.”

Connor and Hank left the building. As they got into the car, Connor called Nines to double check on where he was.

* * *

Nines and Chloe arrived at the landlord’s home. Hopefully they’d be able to find something in the security footage here. Nines had them park around the corner and when they both got closer to the home, they went through someone else’s backyard to get there.

“No heat signatures. No car. We should be safe,” murmured Nines.

“Why would he have the security cameras streamed here? Why not just leave it for the security guard at actual apartment building?” asked Chloe.

“It could be just for backup purposes. My prediction is it’s for something else though,” murmured Nines.

“Something else?”

“Nothing good,” Nines replied. He quickly planned out the route that would give them the most cover. “This way.”

They approached the back. Though the house was old, the security system was sophisticated. Nines didn’t want to risk leaving traces so he looked for other routes. He quickly saw the system didn’t do much if a window was open. However, that window was on the second story and there was nothing that could hold his weight long enough so that he could get up there.

Chloe of course didn’t have the systems Nines had but she managed to guess what he was thinking. “Do you think I could get up there?”

“That’s more realistic. You can stand on my shoulders,” Nines replied. He dropped to his knees, making it easier for Chloe to get balanced. She held onto his head for a bit before both feet were on his shoulders. She slowly stood up straight, balancing there before Nines smoothly rose. Chloe jumped to the window and Nines took several steps back before looking up again. When she managed to pull herself through, he asked, “Everything ok?”

“Yes. How am I supposed to get you in though?”

“The security system has a password, but I doubt you’ll find it lying around.” Nines looked over. “That room there. If you open the window, I can use the shed to get in.”

Chloe leaned out the window to see where Nines was gesturing. “On it.”

She disappeared from view. Nines walked over and analyzed the house again. He cocked his head to the side. It seemed that the wireless signal was being sent to that room. A lot of cables could also be seen, moving power along the floor and through the walls. He quickly switched his vision back to normal as he heard the window open and looked back up to Chloe.

“You’re going to want to see this.”

Nines easily moved up and carefully slipped through the window. He straightened up beside her.

“I’m assuming this is the ‘nothing good’ part.”

Nines only nodded in agreement. There were a line of monitors, all displaying the security cameras from the apartment. Half of them were expected. The other half were in very, very illegal locations. “I’m going to need you to keep lookout for me.”

“Of course,” Chloe replied.

Nines walked over and pressed his hand to the computer. There was a lot of footage to go through. Was it blackmail material or for the landlord’s own personal pleasure? Nines wasn’t sure yet, but at least he now understood why the man’s statement had been so short in the initial report.

He searched for any signs of androids, going by all the registered face models, any signs of an LED, and the usual, inhuman posture that androids kept. He also compared the human faces to Alex Trevelyn’s. If the person staying in his apartment was his brother, then there might be some facial features that could signal the physical relationship. There did seem to be a camera in the Trevelyn’s apartment. However, it was encrypted and Nines didn’t know how long it would take him to crack it. Instead, he focused on a security camera that showed the same hallway, though it didn’t show the opening to Trevelyn’s door.

Nines’ eyes flickered grey as he did this while combing through the footage. It was a lot to do, even with his computing power. So far nothing of interest. This would take time. Perhaps not time that they had—

“He’s home.”

The hurried hiss filtered into his ears. He had to keep looking. He couldn’t risk leaving yet.

He split his focus for a second, but he didn’t have to worry. Chloe was already working quickly. She closed the window like it had been before, and then rushed to a closet. She opened it up, moved some things around, then went back to the door and looking out into the hallway. Nines continued to take in what information he could. Just a face. A model. Anything that could—

There! A VB800 with black hair. It was the first android that even somewhat matched the woman’s description though his skin was much lighter. Nines checked more footage and could now confirm the android had regularly moved in and out of that hallway. It had to be the model they were looking for. Now the next step was to see if he could tell if the android had ever accompanied the human that had actually been living there rather than Alex Trevelyn. So far no human had particularly stood out with any obvious features that proved the relation. But there had to be one. All Nines would need was a good enough angle. Then he could analyze the face and see if—

He was ripped from the console. He could feel Chloe pulling him back towards the closet and now that his connection was gone, his ears could clearly hear the sound of someone moving towards them down the hall. There were two voices actually. Both male.

Chloe had already closed the main door to make sure everything was as it should be. They then hid in the closet, Chloe carefully closing it behind them. Nines looked through the slats and watched as the door to the hall slightly opened and two people almost walked in before turning to go across the hall instead. They were still near though. It was too risky to move out, especially if Nines wanted to continue his search through the footage.

Just then, a call came in. He answered it in his head, taking Chloe’s hand so that she could connect with the call too.

“It’s Connor. Are you at the hospital now?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Where are you then—why are you only speaking internally?” Connor asked, being able to tell the difference by the noise signals being sent his way. To be fair, it was a valid question since Nines didn’t usually communicate like this.

Nines glanced to Chloe. He’d been hesitant to include Connor on this. Sure, he’d broken a number of laws when it came to helping Markus and the android revolution, but that was a little different when compared to normal police procedure. However, Chloe internally spoke to him.

“I think you can trust him. And he’s still connected to the police servers, right? You’ll have more resources.”

“Come on Nines, where the hell are you?” asked Hank, his voice signaling that Connor had routed the call externally so that the Lieutenant could listen in.

Nines looked at Chloe again. She nodded, showing her support, and Nines finally replied, “In a closet with one of Kamski’s Chloes. Actually, I suppose I should have just called you Chloe.”

“It’s alright. The way you said it made it sound like how you’d introduce someone’s sibling, like this is so and so’s brother. I like it.”

“I’m glad—”

“Nines, I have several questions,” Hank said, the uncertainty in his voice clearly showing where his mind had gone.

Nines rolled his eyes, even if the man couldn’t see him. “Take what you’re thinking Lieutenant and simply make it the opposite.”

“The-oh god, that’s fucking worse.”

“Now you’re making me imagine it Hank.”

Nines internally groaned. “I am in a closet with Chloe inside Marshall Branson’s home, the landlord of the building where the apartment was blown up.”

He could hear Hank snort off to the side. “He’s working the damn case. Of course he is.”

“Why his home though? Did you find something new at—”

Just at that moment, it sounded like the two men were coming back into the room. Nines quickly said, “I have to go. I’ll call you back later.” Before Connor or Hank could respond, he was already focusing on the two men again. Now that he could see them, he recognized Marshall Branson but the other person wasn’t in clear view. He was white, male, but that was it.

“Fine, fine. You want to fucking see me delete it, you will,” grumbled Branson as he walked over. From where Nines was, he could see Branson sit down at the cameras. The stranger came up behind him. His hand came behind his back…

Nines pushed Chloe to the back of the closest, his intention clear. He didn’t want her to get involved. Nines then burst through the slatted doors, grabbing the stranger as he tried to get the gun out. Nines could hear the landlord yell. He fell out of his chair and knocked into Nines.

Then a feeling of ear splitting pain occurred and Nines dropped to his knees. He’d been more focused on getting the gun under control and hadn’t expected the free hand to grab something else. There had been no other bulge suggesting a gun or weapon of serious size. Going by what Nines was feeling now though, whatever it was, it was emitting an EMP pulse of some kind. His systems were scrambled, trying desperately to reboot as the monitoring system metaphorically went up in flames. A muffled noise went off. Nines was unable to identify it as his vision tried to get in order.

An object managed to break through the errors flying across his face, the barrel of a gun. Then a voice, muffled and distorted.

“I’m trying to help. Ok? All I want to do is help so just stay out of my way and everything will be fine.”

The gun moved out of Nines’ vision. He focused on trying to move again. His limbs were awkward and heavy for the first time and he stumbled to his feet. He continued to blink, trying to get a clear view again as he glanced back to Chloe. He couldn’t fully see her but he heard her.

“Go!”

He’d just needed confirmation that she was alive. Now, Nines pushed himself into the hallway. In the few steps it took to go from the door to the top of the stairs, most of Nines’ mobility was already back. He pushed off the top step, skipping all the ones beneath him. He rolled and bounced back to his feet. He pushed through the slightly ajar door and only stopped as he came to the sidewalk. His head and body swiveled as he looked in all directions. However, nothing stood out. The stranger was already gone.

A woman stood in the middle of her lawn across the road, her mail in hand as she remained frozen.

“Did you see anything? Anyone run out of the house?” Nines demanded as he advanced on her.

She yelped and rapidly shook her head. “What…did…did something heavy fall? Was that—”

Nines just shook his head. He blinked hard but his systems were still rebooting. He focused back on the woman and said, “It was a gunshot you heard. It would be most appreciative if you called the police.”

“Oh, oh god. Oh yes! Right away!”

As the woman rushed off, Nines looked around again. Even without certain systems being green, he still tried to see any tire marks, any shoe prints, but there was nothing. The stranger had vanished and with him, more questions than answers.

* * *

Chloe had her eyes closed. She breathed deeply several times before finally forcing them open again. She pushed herself up on shaking limbs and walked over to the body. There was no point in checking for a pulse. The gunshot had been point blank, right in the head. She carefully stepped over the body and went to the wall of monitors. They were all dark now, some smoke coming from the computer they’d been hooked up to. The pulse had definitely fried everything and it had to have been abnormally powerful for it to have affected even her and Nines. A quick glance around showed broken bulbs and Chloe imagined the entire house had gone down.

She then remembered that the men had gone somewhere else before coming into the room. She went out and across the hallway to a newly opened door. There was a safe disguised as a filing cabinet door. It was still open. A new package sat next to it. Chloe could see the cash money still in it, having not yet been stacked with the rest of it in the safe.

Chloe walked back into the hallway and made her way downstairs, careful to not touch anything as she finally made her way outside. Nines was standing there, arms crossed and head still moving around as he searched. However, from his furrowed brow, it was clear he was only getting more frustrated. The tension in him eased a little though as he saw her come forward.

“Your ears are bleeding.”

She touched hers, fingers coming away blue. “So are yours.”

Nines checked and murmured, “Probably a self-defense mechanism meant to dampen any harm done to the sound processors.”

“That makes sense. You know there was a safe up there. I’m betting the stranger was paying to have something on those files destroyed.”

“But he took matters into his own hands. He probably thought Marshall Branson was going to keep copies somewhere and try to bleed him dry. What he did managed to destroy, I suspect, everything in that house. And killing him silenced the only witness for good.”

“You didn’t find anything in the files. Did you?”

“Not much. The angles were off and the cameras to the room we needed had been encrypted by extra systems. I didn’t have time to crack them. I did find a VB800 that somewhat matched the witness’s description. One of the images had him in the android jacket and I could see the serial number. We should be able to track where he came from.”

“At least it’s something.” Chloe paused, trying to clear out her ears a bit better. She looked back at a sudden thought. “He said something to you. Didn’t he?”

“Yes, that he’s trying to help. How attempting to kill the officers at the warehouse scene was helpful though, it’s completely illogical to me.”

Chloe nodded in agreement. She hugged herself and closed her eyes again. She’d never seen a dead body before. The man, though obviously flawed, had just died. In an instant. And Chloe could have been next. She could have been shot. No backups had been planned, no secondary body to save on. Just gone.

“Are you alright?”

She slowly came to look back at Nines. She forced a smile on her face, even if it was pained. “I knew this could get messy Nines. I’m not naïve. I knew the risks, but I came anyways.”

“Does trying to find out who did this to Gavin really mean that much to you? Or is this more for Kamski?”

“You have no idea,” she softly replied. She could tell her words had only made Nines more curious. She was happy to explain her reasoning too, but now wasn’t the time. The first responder was finally pulling up.

She could tell Nines recognized the officer. The man got out and leaned into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder and said, “Yeah, they’re here. They’re alive.”

Nines cocked his eyebrow.

“It’s Connor. He said you were in a call before suddenly ending it and then Connor couldn’t get a hold of you again. He expected the next 911 call would be from you.”

“Ah.”

The officer came closer as his partner walked around with the electric posts that would pull up the yellow tape. The other officer leaned in close, a worried look on his face. “Are you both ok? You got—”

“We know Chris. But we’re fine. Some final systems are just still rebooting.”

“Ok. Ok that’s…” Chris stopped for a moment. Chloe couldn’t tell what he would do next. Clearly whatever Nines had predicted was wrong too going by his shocked expression as Chris suddenly hugged the android’s tall body.

Nines looked down at him, blinking in confusion as Chris pulled back just as quick and punched Nines in the shoulder. “Jesus, you had me worried!”

“I…did?”

“Of course you did! After hearing about Gavin and Tina? And then Connor calls me saying you’re working the damn case, because of course you are! We still don’t even know for sure if Gavin will make it through the night. I can’t lose another friend now.”

“I…didn’t realize we were. My apologies Chris.”

“Of course we are. Damn it. I know you’re going to keep looking into this, and hell, Hank will probably help you. But just be more careful,” Chris sighed.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, Fowler will likely make it impossible for me to go anywhere near this case after this.”

“Oh, don’t worry about him. Hank already made it clear to leave you guys out of the report.”

“Of course he did,” sighed Nines as he rolled his eyes. “But I doubt every cop will follow his request.”

“That’s why you need to just go ahead and go. Don’t worry. Connor and Hank are on their way to look over the crime scene but they said if you were here, then to meet them back at the hospital. They found some things today and wanted to go over it with you there.”

“Then you can tell them we’ll meet them there. Thank you Chris.”

“I’d say anytime but…well I really hope this doesn’t happen again.”

“That, we can definitely agree on.”

Nines walked back to where they’d parked, Chloe following close behind.

“I wonder what Connor will find.”

“As do I. Hopefully we can figure out this man’s motive. He has to be delusional to think this is helping but what is his ultimate goal?”

Chloe kept quiet, simply thinking the same thing. They got back in Nines’ car and drove to the hospital in silence. Once there, she said, “Go ahead and find Gavin. I’m going to check on Elijah first.”

Nines nodded and left. Chloe went up to a receptionist. She took a tissue and better cleaned up her ears as she said, “I need to speak with Dr. Torres.”

“I’m not sure…oh. You’re one of the RT600s. Just a moment.”

Chloe had figured that Torres would continue to keep Elijah’s presence secret to most of the staff. He’d probably requested that if her model came asking for him then to be called immediately so he could tend to whatever Elijah needed.

She didn’t have to wait long, Dr. Torres hurrying over. He hesitated, taking in her outfit, and said, “You’re the…first one that came. Correct?”

“Yes, I arrived with him. Where is he now?”

“This way ma’am.”

Chloe followed close behind. Not surprisingly, Dr. Torres did try to ask about what Elijah been doing so far, but Chloe just stressed she hadn’t been present all day. Dr. Torres mercifully left her at the door. Chloe entered the lab area and quickly took in the scattered mess. It reminded her of the early days of when he’d been working on her. Then of the time when Elijah had first discovered the error that was rA9.

He preferred paper because that was what he’d written the first code of an AI on. A scribble in the back of a classroom.

Already the space looked like one of the many workshops Chloe had seen. He was scribbling furiously across some paper. Chris must have brought him his glasses because he’d traded them for the contacts. They’d slipped to the end of his nose and his hair was barely in the hair tie any more, likely from how many times he had run a hand through it.

Chris walked over and Chloe turned her attention to her other. “How is he?”

“He hasn’t even realized it’s me yet. He didn’t realize you left.”

“Oh Elijah,” whispered Chloe. She slowly approached him and put a hand on his shoulder.

He didn’t even look up. He just waved at her and said, “I told you I will eat in a second. I—”

Chloe took his chin and gently forced him to turn towards her. “Elijah. You’re going to eat something now. I know you didn’t have lunch and it’s well into the night now.”

“Chloe, I am-Chris? When did you…”

“A while,” she softly answered.

Elijah shook his head. He rubbed at his eyes and for a second, Chloe thought he would comply. But no. The fire flared up again and he said, “I’ll be fine.” He tried to turn away but Chloe pushed him back towards her. He took her hand though and stopped the motion. “If you wish to get me something, fine. But I will not move from my work until it is done.”

“Elijah, you can’t expect to—”

“You know how much I hate to be in the wrong Chloe. I would rather fix this as quickly as possible.”

“It’s not your—”

“It is. You know it’s my fault,” Elijah whispered back through gritted teeth. “I am going to make it right and you are not going to stop me.” He finally let go and turned back to his work. This time Chloe didn’t push.

“I’ll bring you something to eat then,” she murmured.

As she came over to Chris, she gripped her other’s hand and murmured, “Are you fine with staying?”

“Of course. And I’ll have Dr. Torres bring him something. You go see Gavin. I was told he should be done with his first round of surgery. Same room as before.”

“Thank you,” Chloe replied.

Once out the door, she quickened her pace. She could easily remember where they’d first been taken. She walked into the operating theatre. Nines was sitting in one of the chairs closest to the window. The blood from his ears had been cleaned away. His back was straight, perfect posture, but he still looked tired.

“They’re waiting to make sure he remains stable before starting again. A nurse said it was safest if they left him here as the next round should begin soon,” Nines said, not having to turn and see who was there. “How is Kamski?”

“Focused.”

She shouldn’t have been surprised that Nines picked up on the bitterness in her tone. “That isn’t a good thing?”

“He will let himself starve if it means more time devoted to work.”

Nines slowly inclined his head. “For brothers that haven’t seen each other in years, he seems to care.”

“He does,” Chloe immediately replied.

“And so do you?”

“Of course.”

“I must admit, your answer from before surprised me. You care for Gavin, even when he’s shown so much hatred towards our kind?”

“He wasn’t always so bitter. Sarcastic, rude, quick to anger, of course. But the hate wasn’t always there.”

“That’s difficult for me to imagine.”

“Perhaps you’d believe me if I showed you.”

Nines cocked his head to the side, confusion coming across his brow. “You mean Gavin was there? From the beginning?”

“Yes, he was there for a lot of it. He was nearly as constant a companion for me as Elijah was.” Chloe held out her hand, the skin moving back around her wrist. She knew Nines was curious about Gavin. It was how he’d come to find the familial connection at all. She didn’t feel comfortable explaining everything, but she did want to show Nines why and how she could care for the man.

His skin moved back as he took her hand. Chloe transmitted the old memory to him. Through her eyes, he saw a younger Gavin and Elijah standing in front of him. There were fewer lines around the eyes, across their foreheads. Small signs of acne showed on chins and around noses.

Elijah’s head wasn’t partially shaved, all the hair pulled up into a messy bun as the larger glasses kept slipping down the end of his nose. His beard was short, not fully grown in. During the memory, his face came in and out of view. He was working on a part of Chloe beneath her eyesight, his head popping up every now and again to look for responses. It was all by hand. Not the automated systems that had once spit androids out of Cyberlife by the hundreds.

And behind him was Gavin. There wasn’t even stubble on his chin as he paced back and forth. He tossed an apple up in the air and caught it. He continued to do that as Elijah said, “You realize that while waiting for me to finish you could be studying. Right?”

“You never studied for a single fucking test. Not even when you took all those entrance exams for college.”

“That’s because I am a genius.” The words were smug, but still teasing in a sibling manner. Besides, Gavin got back at him by throwing the apple at the back of his head. “Ow! Pick that up!”

“What? Didn’t see that coming? I thought you were a fucking genius or something,” laughed Gavin. He went out of frame for a second before appearing again. He picked up the apple, only gave it one quick glance, and then took a bite.

“You are disgusting.”

“Says the man who forgot to shower for a week because he was stuck in his workshop the whole time,” Gavin shot back. He took another bite and started pacing again.

For a moment, both were quiet as Elijah focused on his work. Then he leaned back and asked, “Are you really not going to study?”

“You said this would take ten minutes!”

“Gavin, we both know you were a C student at best in school. I’m just—”

“You’re worried?” Gavin laughed good and hard. He came up and wrapped Elijah in a hug from behind. “Well aren’t you just fucking sweet. Actually caring about what’s happening in my life for once.”

“I just know how important passing the Academy’s final exam is. And it’s not like you’ve made any kind of backup plan for if you don’t pass,” Elijah sighed. He was taller than Gavin but he was slouched now, making them closer to the same height.

“See? I always knew you were the sap.”

“Who cried at the end of _Toy Story 4_?”

“That was you shithead. Mine was _Finding Dory_.”

“Oh, right. How could I forget?” Elijah said with a roll of his eyes. “How about we watch that while we eat?”

“Not unless you got about twenty-eight tissue boxes around here.”

Elijah laughed and Gavin grinned. They were both smiling at each other, even as the worry came back to Elijah’s face. “I’m just pushing you to study because I want you to succeed. You know that, right?”

“Of course I do. You just have to realize that I’ve finally found something that I’m better at than you.”

“Alright, fair enough. Should I go ahead and buy your graduation cake then?”

“Why not get it now and have it for lunch?”

“Now that is truly disgusting.”

“Ah come on. I remember when you’d eat nothing but cosmic brownies and carrots and you’re saying a cake for one meal is too much?”

“First off, I have refined my pallet. Secondly, the carrots balanced it out!”

“One carrot does not equal an entire box of those sickeningly sweet things,” Gavin said as he made a face. “And that doesn’t even include the times you’d eat the other brownie first. You’d go through the whole fucking cupboard then.”

“Ah, not planning on arresting me for a little indiscretion, are we officer?” teased Elijah.

“You and I both know it’s been legal for ages idiot. As long as that’s…all that’s in your house.”

“Gavin…”

“I’m serious ‘Lij.”

“I’d tell you if it got to that point again. Besides, I’m not getting dragged around the nation, or the world, like a god damn doll anymore. Most of the investors finally see me as old enough to make decisions on this company and I legally have the backing to fight them on it. It’s not like when I was a teenager.”

“You should have fucking waited.”

“What? For someone else to do this first?”

“Oh come on. Like anyone would have beaten you to it,” sighed Gavin. “As long as you’re ok. That’s what matters.”

“Well it helps that I’m home again,” sighed Elijah. “And it means I can bother you.”

“You mean I get to bother you.”

“I think I bother you more.”

“Nu-uh. I totally bother you more,” Gavin replied before getting Elijah in a headlock and messing his hair up even more. When he stopped, his eyes looked over his brother’s head and finally made contact with Chloe’s. He cocked his head to the side and smiled. “Jesus, if you succeed…”

“I think you mean when.”

Gavin snorted. “Of course. I forgot who I was talking to for a moment.” He shook his head and focused back on Chloe again. “You think of a name yet?”

“This latest test is labeled under RT600. Hopefully she’ll be my first complete success.”

“Yeah, but you and I both know you named the fucking rumba when we were five. Besides, if she’s going to pass the Turing Test, she needs a name.”

“I’m impressed you even remember that.”

“Yeah, just don’t get me to explain it. So, come on. What is it?”

Elijah smiled and leaned back, both brothers in complete view now. “Chloe.”

“Chloe? Why—”

“Its Greek origin means along the lines to bloom. I think it’s fitting considering she’s both the end to all my prior work and the beginning of what’s to come. Hopefully.” Elijah looked very pleased with himself but Gavin just looked confused.

“No, hold on. That doesn’t sound right…”

“What do you mean it doesn’t sound right? I think the reasoning is excellent.”

“Not the reasoning. The-Ms. Finch! Chloe was her first name! I remember it now!”

Elijah blushed hard.

“Did you really think you were going to get that by me? She was our sixth grade teacher! And our last teacher together before everyone realized how god damn smart you were.” Gavin leaned in close. “Huh. She’s even kind of starting to look like her.”

“I don’t know what you’re—”

“Come on. It totally is! You can’t fool me now. Why the hell Ms. Finch?”

Elijah was still blushing, even as he mumbled out, “I refused to let others work on this first design but…considering her proposed function, she needed to seem kind. And warm. And just…I don’t know. Ms. Finch was all I could think of. She was nicer than my mother.”

“Well yeah, no fucking contest there. Huh, guess it does kind of make sense though. It was Ms. Finch who sat with you during recess to work on things and she was the first to realize what you doodled down was important and not gibberish.”

“I wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t been kind and simply paid attention,” murmured Elijah in agreement. “I’d probably still be stuck in my head, not knowing how to get the ideas out.”

A softer smile played on Gavin’s face now. “Well, she was pretty sweet. She was the only teacher who actually took the time to explain all that math shit to me too. Only ever learned under her. I guess it is kind of nice you found inspiration in her. At least it’s not something creepy like our babysitter.”

“You’re the one who had the crush on the babysitter.”

“Oh yeah.”

They both laughed at that before Gavin went back to pacing and Elijah started working again. Then he leaned back and said, “What is your name?”

“My name is Chloe.”

“You should lower the pitch a little,” Gavin suggested. “She sounds like she’s ten.”

“Yes, I do think I over compensated a bit.” Elijah fiddled around beneath her eyesight again before leaning back and repeating, “Your name?”

“My name is Chloe.”

“Yeah, she sounds a lot fucking better.”

“Thank you,” Chloe replied. “Can I be of assistance?”

“Not now dear.”

“Hey, once you finish with her body, maybe you can test some of her motor functions against mine.”

“You just want to try and arm wrestle her.”

“Hell yeah!”

“You’ll lose.”

“No way. She’ll feel too bad and let me win.”

“Well if she proves she can understand that and then respond to the process, that would be excellent.”

“See, so I will totally beat her in arm wrestling. You hear that Chloe? I’m totally going to beat you!”

“I look forward to our match,” Chloe replied.

“Does it even count if she does let you win?”

“Of course. Now let’s go eat. I’m starving.”

“Ok, ok. Just give me a second,” Elijah murmured, leaning forward and running his hand behind Chloe’s head.

The memory ended and Chloe’s vision focused back on Nines as his hand slowly slipped from hers. She folded her own hands in her lap and carefully watched Nines’ reaction.

“I…” He turned quiet, honestly speechless for a moment. His eyes flickered to the glass, to the broken view of Gavin beneath them. “I’ve never seen him smile like that.”

Chloe let out a tired, sad sound. “I’m sorry to hear that, though not surprised. Several years passed and that was when the bitterness came.”

“And then the hatred.”

“You must understand, it’s a byproduct. He doesn’t hate androids because we’re androids. Even if he may claim that’s the only reason.”

“Then because of his brother. They were so close there. They…they cared so much for each other. What could have driven them apart?”

“That is something you would have to ask either Elijah or Gavin. It’s not my place to explain.”

“Of course,” murmured Nines. “You let me see something I wouldn’t have been able to before, and still I tried to pry for more.”

“You’re curious. You want to understand your partner. That’s understandable. There’s just some things I feel you should learn from him.”

“Yes, I think I realize that now.” Nines lowered his head. “If I hadn’t pried…”

“Then something else probably would have angered him off, he would have avoided you and…who knows. Maybe he’d be in the same situation. Only he’d already be dead because the doctors here wouldn’t have had the means to keep him alive,” murmured Chloe. “Going forward, ask him. Even if he gets upset, he’ll appreciate it more than if you go behind his back again. But all things considered, I’m happy you found out and were able to contact me.”

“I take it that’s not just because it’s kept Gavin alive this long. Tell me off if this too is prying too much, but that one small moment in the memory, between them…”

“Elijah probably would have found out from the news,” Chloe whispered. “Gavin…he probably would have been dead by that point and Elijah…his self-destructive patterns have lessened greatly from his younger years. But I imagine if he’d found out Gavin had died like this…he just might have followed.”

“And if their positions were switched?”

“Gavin was never self-destructive in that manner. But if he’d had a chance, he’d be trying to save Elijah with everything he had just as Elijah is doing for him now. They’ve never really stopped caring for each other, even if it would seem otherwise.”

“I think I finally believe that now.”

Chloe nodded. “And perhaps after this they’ll finally talk, though I’m sure that will come with its own hardships as well.”

Nines inclined his head in agreement. “Thank you again. For letting me see.”

“Well, I wanted you to at least understand that the Gavin you’ve seen isn’t the whole picture. I doubt he himself has given you much opportunity to learn more.”

“No, not really. I’ve gotten about as deep as he has a cat and burritos make him fart.”

Chloe tried to hide the laughter and smile behind her hands as Nines let out his own low chuckle as well. However, the mirth didn’t last long as Nines focused back on Gavin and murmured, “Do you think he’ll really succeed?”

“You don’t strike me as someone who is unsure very often.”

“Not usually. Will all the information I have, Gavin’s survival rate is now at thirty-six percent though. And with what Elijah is trying to do to him, I’d put his survival somewhere between zero point eight percent and four point six. But the way you talk about him, you’re just so sure he will succeed. It makes me want to put a little less faith in the numbers.”

“Elijah will,” Chloe pressed again.

Nines gave her a sad smile in response, just as the door opened again. Chloe recognized Connor and the lieutenant right away. She and Nines stood up but before anything could be said, Hank had advanced on Nines and pushed him back. Yes, Nines was easily the tallest one in the room, but Hank’s presence quickly eclipsed his.

“First off,” Hank loudly exclaimed, not quite yelling but being pretty damn close, “you put a civilian’s life at risk. You can do stupid fucking shit on your own but you roped her into it and that is incredibly irresponsible of you. Second, if you’re going to go behind Jeffrey’s back and work a case while you’re on leave, why the hell didn’t you include us in that shit?”

Nines rapidly blinked, clearly thrown by Hank’s outburst. He glanced over Hank’s head and spotted the clear smirk on Connor’s face. Nines shot him a glare but his gaze quickly jumped back to Hank as the older man jabbed him in the chest.

“I mean really? What the hell were you thinking? What if you had been killed? Huh? We’ve already got Reed and Chen in here. We don’t need you too! Next time, fucking tell us what the hell you’re doing. Even Martin Riggs eventually realized he had to trust someone else.”

“Who—”

“Lethal Weapon reference,” Connor helpfully put in, his smile still just the slightest bit smug. “Completely unrealistic but quite a fun movie.”

Nines shot him another glare but this time spoke before Hank could. “My apologies Lieutenant. I didn’t realize you’d be so willing to go behind Fowler’s back.”

“And if it helps,” Chloe spoke, finally interjecting her way into the conversation, “I insisted I come along. Though your worry is greatly appreciated Lieutenant Anderson.”

Hank finally seemed to calm down a bit at that. He took a step back and crossed his arms. “Well, even then, he should have known better. Though I have to ask, he said you’re from Kamski’s? We met before?”

“Yes. I greeted you at the door.”

“Then how the hell did you get involved? Don’t tell me all this shit is even more convoluted now.”

“In regards to the case, no,” Nines replied.

“Wanting to help Gavin is a family matter for me. And Elijah,” Chloe said.

Connor frowned. He glanced between Gavin and Chloe. “Are they related in some way?”

“Yes.” Chloe was honest, one because she was sure Connor would figure it out considering the circumstances, and two, she trusted him and the lieutenant to not just spread the information to everyone else.

“Oh hell, we don’t have time to unpack all that,” Hank muttered. “If it’s not effecting the case, we just need to focus on who the hell blew up that warehouse for now. Tell us what you learned.”

Both Nines and Chloe went back and forth, explaining their movement from the apartment and what they found there, to their movement to the landlord’s house and what happened.

“We ended up following the chemical residue to a company,” Connor replied as he began to explain their own day. He and Hank went back and forth too, up until they’d gotten to the home that Chloe and Nines had arrived at as well.

“Obviously, he was illegally filming his tenants and blackmailing anyone that did anything too naughty,” muttered Hank. “Probably why Branson didn’t want to talk to the police in the first place. He’d rather extort our bomber than give him up to the law.”

“And the bomber struck back,” sighed Nines. “Were there any fingerprints? My systems weren’t fully restored when we left.”

“There were,” Connor replied. “His name is Jason Maxwell. He’s the cousin of Alex Trevelyn and I’m guessing the one posing as the supposed brother called Jackson considering there’s no evidence he even exists.”

“Where was his last known residence? Besides living under the lease made by his cousin,” asked Nines.

“Maple Crest in South Carolina,” Connor said.

“How long was he—”

“Oh about four years,” Hank drawled. “Locals said he just lied around all day but his neighbors didn’t have much to say. They mostly lied around all day too.”

“I’m sorry—”

“He’s supposedly been dead for the last four years,” Connor said with a roll of his eyes. “Hank’s just making a big show.”

“You got to admit, it’s pretty fucking wild.”

“Who was he?” asked Chloe.

“A chemistry professor. He lived alone with his VB800 after the android was retired from a local shop he apparently frequented.”

“That’s the model I saw in the cameras.”

“And what about the man who attacked you? Did he look like this?” Connor showed the picture on his hand.

“I couldn’t say,” Nines murmured. “He was white. But his head was shaved.”

Chloe nodded in agreement.

“Well funny enough, the guy that was seen at the chemical company had bleached and then dyed his hair a lighter color,” grumbled Hank. “But the sketch seemed pretty close and with his prints showing up at Branson’s crime scene, it’s likely the same guy.”

“But that doesn’t explain why he would have faked his death. Or why his cousin was helping him,” Chloe murmured.

“No, it doesn’t. We just know a ghost blew up an abandoned Cyberlife warehouse, nearly killed two officers, an android is possibly helping him just making this all the more confusing, his cousin has been missing for god knows how long, and he apparently thinks he’s being very helpful,” Hank sarcastically said. “Jesus! This is the kind of convoluted shit that only happens in the movies.”

“We have a name though. That’s something,” murmured Chloe.

“It is,” agreed Nines, “but considering he’s supposed to be dead in South Carolina, we don’t really have an idea of where he could be now.”

“I’m going to have Connor look more into his cousin and figure out why no one said he was missing. Maybe if we can figure out where he went, we can find Maxwell. While that’s going on, I’m going to talk more with the business man and see if he can give me any more information on his client. He’s been pretty tight lipped but he still might know more than he’s letting on,” said Hank.

“What about me?”

“Jeffrey revoked your access to police records and everything while you’re on leave, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, let’s not push his buttons too fucking much with you hacking into them. Draw up an area around the original apartment building and mark any stores or anything that might have security cameras. Send it to Connor and I’ll have him request copies,” Hank explained. “While Connor’s looking for Trevelyn, you can go through the tapes and see if you can find our suspects since we know what they look like now. If you see they frequented some store nearby, tell me and Connor beforehand so we know what’s going on but go ahead and question them if you can. They may be more forthcoming since you’re technically not with the police right now and apparently you,” he gestured towards Chloe, “know how to get people talking.”

She nodded. It was understandable why he hadn’t given her much to work with. She was just happy he hadn’t requested she stay out of this.

Nines finally smirked. “I think I can finally see why Fowler let you run your own task force when it came to that red ice bust years ago.”

“You may have the tech, but I’ve got the fucking experience. So I’ll reiterate,” Hank said, “you keep us in the loop. We’ll do the same for you and hopefully, we’ll solve this case because of it. If Jeffrey does find out, I’ll deal with him. He’s used to dealing with my shit by now.”

Connor softly chuckled and Nines gave an approving nod.

“I take it the majority of this work will begin tomorrow?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah, it has been a long fucking night,” groaned Hank. He rubbed at his face and finally looked away from them. It was the first time he’d dared to look down at Gavin since coming into the room. He silently watched as doctors and nurses started coming in, prepping him for the next round. A mixture of emotions moved across Hank’s face. Some even looked like they were familiar to him.

Chloe and Nines were on the outside of fully understanding, but Connor’s hand carefully came up. All he did was touch Hank’s elbow but it seemed that was all he needed in order for his muscles to ease up a bit. He looked back and muttered, “If Kamski and Reed are really fucking related, then I bet he’s not sitting down on this. Is he?”

“No,” Chloe murmured.

“You really think he’s got any chance of helping him?”

“I do.”

Hank glanced to Nines.

“Her faith in him is unwavering,” he replied.

Hank just snorted. “Bit surprised. Considering he asked Connor to shoot you and all.”

“I was completely backed up in case he did. There was no danger for me,” smiled Chloe. “Trust me. Elijah is always thinking of every possible variable.”

“I guess he fucking is,” muttered Hank. “We’ll contact you both tomorrow. May see you both too if you decide to stick around. Chen’s wounds were a lot less severe and they’re hoping she wakes up tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow then,” Nines agreed.

Connor nodded and then just lightly touched Hank’s elbow again. “Let’s go home.”

Before they left though, Nines suddenly said, “Is there anyone taking care of Gavin’s cat?”

“I doubt it,” Hank replied. “I know he kept a spare set of keys in his desk.”

“We can take care of it,” Connor said. “The precinct and his apartment are on the way home anyways.”

“I’m sure I could—”

“It’s no big deal,” assured Hank. “Even if Sumo will think I’ve betrayed him when I get home,” Hank added with a light laugh. “Doesn’t matter if you don’t sleep. It sounds like you both need some rest. We’ll start up again tomorrow.”

“If you insist.”

“I do,” Hank pressed. “Night you two.”

Nines inclined his head as Chloe murmured, “Good night.”

* * *

The next few days proved to be more normal by typical case standards. A million and one things did not happen and they didn’t find multiple, unconnected, illegal activities that coincided with the bombing.

But if dealing with all that would have made things go faster, Connor would have gladly dealt with it.

As it stood, the best he could do was slowly work through trying to figure out where Trevelyn now was. It seemed his one living relative, the aunt, Maxwell’s mother, had been in contact with him. When Connor contacted her, she said they’d speak weekly, though it had been a few days since the last conversation. When he asked her when was the last time she’d actually seen him, she’d said, “Oh my, nearly four years I suppose. How time flies.”

A quick look at social media showed that Trevelyn had been consistently active on it. However, when Connor finally looked into his employment records, he found that he’d quit his last job by phone about four years ago. A quick analysis of social media posts before that point and after also showed a distinct difference in dictation.

All these changes had happened around the same time, including when Maxwell had supposedly died. And looking into that, it seemed the accident had left his body unrecognizable, but certain identifiers had apparently been enough to confirm it was him.

Connor sent a request to have the body dug up and examined but he was already pretty certain it was going to be Trevelyn.

If it was and Trevelyn had been talking with his aunt for the past few years though, Connor grew more certain that the android was involved too. He’d probably copied Trevelyn’s voice before he’d died so that way he could make the man seem alive through any necessary calls. However, the more certain Connor grew that the android was involved with Maxwell, the more confused Connor became. The idea that this was a human angry at androids no longer fit as well.

But after Hank forced Mr. Ramirez to talk, they’d found out that Maxwell had actually mentioned two other Cyberlife warehouse facilities in passing. So it did seem destroying those were his goal, but why was the android in on it too?

At the same time, Chloe and Nines had mapped out a route Maxwell and his android had commonly taken when going out before the apartment had blown up. Nines had also managed to confirm from the video footage Connor had sent them that the supposed brother Jackson was definitely Maxwell. But even with all that known now, they still didn’t have any idea of where he could currently be. The man had been too private and any fake documentation must have been on paper. The only one he’d apparently chatted to extensively was the VB800 with him and he was also missing.

It was starting to look like they might not get any more clues until another bombing incident occurred.

In between it all, Connor of course went to see Tina when she finally woke up. Thanks to Kamski’s money, she was healing far faster than she would have. However, that didn’t change the fact that she wouldn’t be able to stay on active duty with one hand gone.

Connor couldn’t imagine what it was like and simply tried to be as kind as possible when he saw her. He knew many other officers had been visiting her and Hank had sat down with her for a bit. She seemed to be handling it well, all things considered.

Gavin was a different story entirely though. Every time Connor thought they might be done, the surgeons were going back in. They were keeping him under as well. It meant movement was minimal and it was easier to keep him stable that way. Also, apparently whatever Kamski had planned would likely go smoother if Gavin didn’t wake up to see himself as he was now. Connor suspected that was also why Kamski seemed so pressured to finish in an insanely short time frame.

He’d only actually seen the man once during his time at the hospital. If Chloe and Nines weren’t out trying to track down Maxwell, they were always at the hospital for Kamski and Gavin respectively. It meant meeting there was usually easiest, especially since Fowler couldn’t know the two androids were helping them on the case.

It was on the third day that Connor finally saw Kamski. He had dropped by simply to see Tina and Gavin, along with passing along the new coroner’s report on the body that was dug up from Maxwell’s grave. Chloe had been out of the room, possibly speaking to one of her others. Connor knew of Chris and apparently ones called Clover and Cora had joined them at the hospital too. It meant Nines and Connor were alone with Gavin on the other side of the glass when Kamski came in.

The image was in stark contrast to the man Connor had met nearly a year ago now. The intelligence behind his eyes was still there, but the masks had somewhat slipped. Connor could see more. See how tired he was. How frustrated.

He had a drawing pad in his hands and didn’t even look at Nines or Connor as he passed them. He took out a pencil that had been balanced between his lips. He wrote some numbers down, looked at Gavin, and then started to sketch something out before suddenly flipping to a new page. His eyes moved to the x-rays and he went back to the prior page, adding another couple of words before going to sketching on the next one. He mumbled something under his breath and then was suddenly gone again.

Connor’s frown deepened. He’d done a quick analysis before he’d left. The results weren’t exactly promising.

“He hasn’t slept.”

“No, he hasn’t,” sighed Nines.

“I’m surprised Chloe and the others have allowed it to go this far.”

“They do what they can. I’ve been told he’ll hook himself up to an IV when he’s in his research space. It gets him some of the nutrition he needs and keeps him hydrated without him having to waste time actually eating or drinking.”

Connor’s eyes widened. “He can’t survive for forever like that.”

“If his work isn’t successful, I don’t think he plans to,” Nines murmured. “The only thing Chloe said she can do at this point is to strap him down and force him to stop. But then what might happen to Gavin if he does?”

“How did they never reconcile if he is this devoted to him?”

“Stubbornness, I imagine,” murmured Nines. “Thank you for the file. It would seem Maxwell murdered his cousin.”

“But why,” Connor finished with a small sigh. As they gained more answers, they just got more questions. “I’ll let you know if they find out more.”

“Thank you.”

So Connor had left after that, wondering exactly how this case would continue, if Kamski would be successful, and what would happen to Gavin if he was.

And then there was a new call.

* * *

Tina was groggy while waking up. Her mind felt rattled and she couldn’t feel much in her body. She felt someone force her eyes open, even when she tried to close them again.

“What is your name?”

She let out a tired, confused grumble.

“What is your name?” The voice spoke a little slower this time. Understanding the question hadn’t really been the problem though. Tina just really didn’t want to answer.

Still, after hearing the question for a third time, she finally mumbled, “Tina Chen.”

For an unknown amount of time, that was what she dealt with, answering obvious questions again and again. Then they tried to slowly bring her up to date. But slowly didn’t really work when all she had to do was glance over and realize she was missing her right hand.

The nurse had shot her a pitying glance and murmured, “Are you ok?”

“Just thinking it’s a good thing I can write with both hands,” she’d said, trying to be somewhat humorous.

“Oh, you can?”

“No. Kind of wish I did though,” Tina had sighed.

That was how she was handling it. She’d try to throw around some jokes, laugh, and then when everyone had left the room, she’d just stare at the stump. It was really hard not to.

Connor came by. He was sweet as always. He even managed to sneak her favorite type of coffee behind the nurses’ backs.

Chris and Marvin ended up coming by later on. Chris even brought his son Damian along. They played card games until they all had to go.

Her partner, Robert, brought baked goods made by his wife.

Lieutenant Anderson of all people even sat down with her. It had been a bit unexpected. After all, the last few times she’d tried to impress him, he’d just shrugged her off. But they talked and it felt surprisingly good. Tina also made sure to tell him she’d probably laid it on a little thick too at the start. What was important was that they’d both managed to laugh it off. It did feel good to have that kind of settled though, and it seemed like Anderson felt the same.

Then of course her parents came. She’d teared up a bit more with them but had still stayed strong.

And in between all the people, Tina slowly tried to piece together what had happened.

It wasn’t like any of the people were keeping her out of the loop per say. But everyone seemed really focused on wanting her to rest when really, she just wanted answers. What she did know was that Gavin was still going in and out of surgery. She’d expected his wounds to be worse than hers, but exactly what they were doing to him wasn’t explained to her. Only that it was new.

That didn’t make sense. The fact that she wasn’t covered in casts didn’t make sense. Again, no one was willing to directly explain it to her but she wasn’t dumb. She knew she’d gotten pumped full of enhancers to accelerate bone growth. She should have been bedridden for at least a month. Instead, she only needed to be careful for about a week as her bones were fragile but already healing. One of her lungs had also been torn and that alone should have made every breath painful but again, she was mostly ok.

It wasn’t like these things were some miracle. It was that the treatments and medicine were far too expensive for Tina to afford. No way they would have been first choice options either. Then there was the fact that her parents had explained she wouldn’t need to pay for anything. Her medical bill should have been a mile long!

So who was the benefactor?

Tina got her answer after a couple of days. She was alone, flipping through the new phone her parents had gotten her when a RT600 came in. She frowned slightly and looked her up and down. “You’re not dressed like you work here.”

“I don’t. My name is Chris.”

“Wow buddy. You have really glammed up.”

The android frowned and cocked her head to the side. “I’m sorry?”

“There’s a guy at work-my friend, Chris he-sorry. That was a bad joke anyways,” Tina quickly said. “What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to warn you about an opportunity.”

“Well that’s some pretty ominous wording.” Tina watched as Chris walked over and sat beside her. The movement was smoother than a human of course. But there was a slouch to her shoulders. She looked incredibly tired despite not a hair being out of place.

“There is a procedure that is planning on being attempted on Gavin. The chances are low, but they would be much higher if the procedure was tried on someone else first.”

Well obviously there was a reason the android was telling Tina this. “I take it that’s me.”

Chris sighed. “Yes. He will likely say many things to try and convince you and…and I want you to know you don’t have to say yes.”

“He as in, whoever paid my medical bill, huh?”

“Yes.”

“If you don’t want me to just agree, then why do you sound so sad?” Tina slowly said.

“Because I want you to agree.”

“You just said not to.”

“Not…not to,” Chris murmured. “Just…you should choose by your own reason. You shouldn’t be pressured into it.”

“And why do _you_ want me to say yes?”

“It’s a family matter. And if you agree, it would improve Gavin’s chances.”

A family matter? That didn’t make sense in the slightest but Tina simply said, “Well…when is this offer going to happen.”

“Sometime today depending on when he finalizes some of the designs.”

“Alright…well…thank you Chris. For the warning,” Tina slowly said. “I’ll keep what you said in mind when…my ‘benefactor’ shows up I suppose.”

“Thank you. I feel better knowing you understand this is your choice. Not his or anyone else’s.”

Then she was gone as quickly as she had come, leaving Tina frowning hard at the closed door. She could have asked who this mysterious man was, but she figured she’d find out soon enough. A family matter…

In retrospect, Gavin never had mentioned any family. And that android, Chris, considered herself part of the family? That was even weirder. And what was this procedure exactly? Why use her as the first attempt? Did it have to do with her missing limb? Gavin’s? What exactly was going on?

Her mind was wrapped up in the questions so badly that the nurse that came in to check on her had to squeeze her shoulder to get a response at all when asking if she felt ok. Tina just needed answers. And if this somehow helped Gavin…

Finally the door opened again. One of the people she recognized as Dr. Farrell. She and Dr. Brown had been the ones occasionally checking in on her and were apparently the main surgeons working on Gavin. Simply talking to them once had been enough to tell Tina that they were not locals and had likely been flown in, only adding to the mystery.

Well, that mystery seemed to be answered as Dr. Farrell went to rest against the wall and a man quickly sat down in the same chair Chris had been in just a few hours ago.

Tina quickly pushed herself up, wincing as she instinctively tried to use two hands. She cradled her stump against her chest and pushed up again on her left hand. “Elijah…Kamski?”

“Yes. I’ll be frank. I need…”

He started talking, but to be honest, Tina wasn’t listening. Elijah Kamski of all people had paid for her treatment. But clearly she wasn’t the important part here. It was only because she’d been hurt alongside Gavin. That meant Gavin was the thing that was tying all this together. Chris had said it was a family matter.

An old memory suddenly popped up. Gavin and her sitting in the break room. The TV had been playing. The news story had been about Cyberlife and an old interview clip of Kamski had played. The ticker beneath it had said something like “genius” or “greatest man of the century”, and Gavin had said, “Dumbest fucking genius I know.” The wording had been weird, but before Tina had asked him about, she’d been called out with Robert.

There were other times like that though. Little comments that were oddly worded when talking about Kamski or Cyberlife. And then Tina had never understood why there were just some facts about androids that Gavin knew despite hating them so much. It hadn’t made sense until—

“No fucking way!” She grabbed the man’s chin with her left hand. He froze up and she twisted his head back and forth, her mouth hanging open. “Say something again.”

“Please let go of my face.”

Tina did, but more from shock than actually listening to him. “You’re…brothers?”

“Half—”

“Holy shit! It all makes since-sorry. I interrupted you. Didn’t I?”

“Yes,” Kamski simply said. If he was going to say more, he didn’t get a chance though as Tina immediately started talking again.

“So clearly there’s bad blood between you two but you’re still funding this and, what? Creating something to help him? You’re an engineer. What could-Farrell and Brown! They do the biology aspect and you create the-oh god it couldn’t be anything else! Could it? You want to integrate android limbs to help Gavin and—” She suddenly stopped and held her stump up. “That’s why you want me as a guinea pig! I’m right! Aren’t I?”

Kamski blinked. He looked incredibly thrown off at having everything laid out in front of him. Dr. Farrell let out a little snort from behind. Kamski just murmured, “Yes.”

“Fuck. Ok, explain all of it to me one more time. Sorry, wasn’t listening before.”

“Clearly,” murmured Kamski.

“Hey—”

This time he interrupted her though and finally continued. “In his state, Gavin will never walk again. He will lose the one thing he cares about, that makes him proud, and I refuse to let that happen. However, his chance of survival is incredibly low. If you let me use you first though, that jumps to as much as thirty percent.”

“And I am legally required to say you have about a thirty percent chance of dying from this,” Dr. Farrell mentioned, though she still didn’t move from her spot.

“Oh, that’s great,” Tina sarcastically said. “Glad to know I come second. So you want to experiment on me in the hopes to help your brother.”

“Yes—”

“Okay.”

“O-okay?”

“That’s what you want to hear. Right?”

“Yes, but—”

“There’s always been a pretty good chance I’d get injured or even die every day I chose to work as an officer. Still didn’t change the fact that whenever it was us two, I always had Gavin’s back,” Tina immediately replied. “He always had mine and I know he’d risk everything to help me. Besides, whatever the numbers say, I doubt you’d be doing this if you weren’t actually sure of yourself.”

“He is very sure of himself,” Dr. Farrell said. “To be fair, if anyone can successfully do it, he can.”

Tina shrugged. “So, let me guess, you planned to tell me something like, as compensation you’d make sure my parents never needed to want for anything else if I died or something, right?”

“Yes.”

“You know, you should probably feel more guilty about that.”

Kamski shrugged. “I care more for Gavin.”

“Wow, you are really forward, aren’t you?”

“I really don’t have time to be anything else.”

“Because you’re trying to do it before Gavin is woken up? You realize this isn’t going to be something you can just hide from him, right?”

“Obviously. And he’ll despise me for doing it at all. However, the integration should be much smoother if Gavin doesn’t have time to grow used to his crippled form and then suddenly have to rework his neural process in controlling his own limbs again.”

“He is right about that,” Dr. Farrell provided, “and the sooner this is done, the more likely he’ll be able to get back into a healthier state.”

“Well then fill me in on everything else. And you are going to make sure my parents are provided for, whether or not I make it.”

“Deal.”

“You can think on this more if you want,” Dr. Farrell added. She said it more as just a reminder than like she thought Tina actually needed to though.

“I’ve thought about it plenty after Chris came by earlier.”

“Chris came by?” asked Kamski.

“Yeah, she basically wanted me to know that it was ok if I denied your manipulation attempts to make me say yes. But for one, this is about Gavin. That alone makes me want to help. And two, I’m really starting to understand a whole lot of shit about him a lot better now. I’m just taking advantage of that.”

Kamski slowly nodded. “Fair enough.”

“So come on. How about you actually explain how the hell this is all going to work.”

“Well, I believe you only have one kidney, correct?”

“Yeah, I donated the other to my mom when I’d just turned twenty because of her cancer.”

“Perfect. I’m going to need the room.”

Tina frowned. “You realize how creepy that sounded, right?”

However, Kamski was already ignoring her and starting to scribble notes instead. She glanced to Dr. Farrell who just shrugged. “To be fair, there’s probably a great deal he isn’t completely aware of as of right now. Anyone else, and I’d say he’d be insane to attempt this on so little sleep, but even if his conversational skills seem to worsen, his brain only seems to speed up with everything else.”

“Reassuring,” Tina sarcastically sighed. “Hey.” When Kamski didn’t respond, Tina hit him hard in the shoulder. He jolted, clearly not used to being treated like that. “I said tell me how this is going to work. Not write it down in code.”

Kamski mumbled something under his breath, something that sounded suspiciously like, “Of course this would be Gavin’s friend,” but he more loudly said, “We’ll go to the lab then. I’ll need to check you for exact measurements anyway.”

The door opened and Tina watched as Dr. Farrell grabbed a wheelchair right outside the door. Kamski got up and just walked away, face pressed close to his notes. Dr. Farrell came by and as she helped Tina into the wheelchair, Tina said, “You know, I think he’s just as rude as I’d expect out of a socially reclusive trillionaire.”

“Oh honey, I deal with those types all the time. Trust me, he’s one of the milder ones.”

Tina actually snorted at that, a grin on her face even as a small part of her brain was wondering what the hell she was getting into.


	3. Motive and Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor and Hank found out the perpetrator got chemical compounds though a chemical company man, Ramirez. A sketch of the buyer was compared to the man who'd lived in the blown out apartment. His name was Jason Maxwell, cousin to Alex Trevelyn rather than brother 'Jackson' as residents knew him.
> 
> Nines and Chloe were attacked in the landlords home. They confirmed the android that lived with Maxwell was a VB800. Then they were attacked, likely by Maxwell who killed the landlord to get rid of blackmail material the man had gained on him and his other tenants.
> 
> Connor, Hank, Chloe, and Nines then formed a plan. Hank focused on getting more information out of Ramirez, Connor looked into Maxwell's background, ultimately finding out he'd 'died' four years ago. Nines received security footage from the police in the area around Maxwell and the VB800's former home. He and Chloe tried to track their movements and see if they interacted with anyone specifically.
> 
> Tina also woke up. She was visited by her partner Robert and others from her department before being approached by Elijah. He requested she go through the procedure Gavin would, acting as a guinea pig. She ultimately agreed.
> 
> And then...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for everyone reading this. Due to a request, the summaries for each chapter is actually an overview of the last chapter now. There's a lot of information that happens in each chapter and because they're so long, it does take a while for me to get them out. This way people can just go back and re-read the summaries real quick and get caught up again. Hopefully that helps!
> 
> Also, decided to go for 6 chapters with this. It may be 7 depending on what I want to do with the epilogue and if it'll get added to the ending of 6 or not. Just depends. And the next chapter will also DEFINITELY not come out this quickly again. Got finals coming up so I won't be able to write a lot for the next couple of days and it's honestly a miracle I wrote an even LONGER chapter than the last one in only a week lol.
> 
> Thanks again, I hope you enjoy, and fair warning, the next chapter is going to be majorly Gavin-centric because the stories basically halfway over now and I need to make up for focusing on all the other characters instead haha. Enjoy!

“There were just some kids playing around the old Cyberlife warehouse by the garbage disposal plant. I saw one slip through one of the windows at the top. I don’t know if he’s able to get out. Please, send anyone you can.”

As the recording of the call ended, Hank crossed his arms and leaned back. Connor was sitting perched on his desk as Hank said, “Well I’ll give them an A for effort. Their scenario for trying to get us to a Cyberlife warehouse is at least different. Used a different voice too.”

“Not that it helped much. I still managed to confirm it came from the same source as the other voice from before. Which for the moment, we’re assuming is the VB800.”

Hank nodded in agreement. “For a guy who had to figure out how to live as a dead guy for about four years, he isn’t very smart.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well he already nearly killed two of our officers at a Cyberlife warehouse. We’ve got a pretty good fucking idea it was the warehouse he was aiming for. It’s not like we’re going to hear a damn call for another one and just throw in some unsuspecting officer like we didn’t learn our lesson the first time.”

Connor just barely inclined his head. “Yes, that would be foolish of us. I’m assuming the operator contacted the bomb squad?”

“Yeah. As far as I know, they’re looking over the place now. Once they get the thing secured and disarmed, they’ll take it in for analysis. Since we’ll finally have one intact, we should be able to figure out where he got the rest of the pieces. Maybe we’ll get something more helpful than what that shit-stain Mr. Ramirez gave us.”

“Well he did finally let up that Maxwell mentioned the other two Cyberlife locations. And he and his android just called about one of them. As far as we know, he only has one more location he’s aiming for.”

“True. And to be fair, there’s only one more external facility he could aim for as long as he remains inside Detroit. Unless he suddenly goes to Cyberlife itself, but that place has actually been under lock and key by the government until something can be decided about the production of new androids. There’s no way he could get in there.”

Connor nodded in agreement. “He might have to start choosing other places.”

“Yeah, but that would suggest this guy just wants to bomb shit to bomb shit. One, it’s just less likely, and two, if that was what he wanted, he would have already done it. Way easier to kill a bunch of people in some public space rather than trying to lure the police to some Cyberlife warehouses.”

Connor nodded in agreement. There did have to be a more solid motive here, especially considering Maxwell had just tried to do the exact same thing again. But what? With there being a human and an android involved, it complicated things. There was of course the chance that the VB800 wasn’t a willing participant, but the android had been with Maxwell since before he’d supposedly died.

Connor had learned this and a lot more after calling some people back in Maxwell’s old hometown. He’d apparently first seen the android at the grocery store he frequented. Talking to a few remaining workers there, they said he’d always gone to the same android, even when the android had been moved to work a different line. They didn’t have serial numbers to distinguish themselves since they were in the company’s uniforms. They’d also been the same model, but somehow Maxwell had always known. When a newer version was coming out, the company had sold out the older androids for a lower price. Most of the people who’d bought them were small time business owners that couldn’t normally afford an android, but Maxwell had bought the VB800, again, knowing exactly which one he was.

Considering how private the professor had previously been, there was a clear inability to connect with his fellow man. But why that specific VB800? Did the VB800 perhaps have similar issues, having been so cut off from his own kind? Had he been one of the rare cases of early deviation? Had he deviated at all?

There were still just too many questions. Some were less important to the investigation but all of them interested Connor.

“So what did you learn from the redone autopsy?” Hank asked, bringing Connor out of his head.

“Well, they managed to confirm that the DNA matches Alex Trevelyn. He was mostly just bones but they reexamined some of the breaks. They said they were almost too clean. It seemed someone had staged the breaks as they knew there would be other bodily injuries during the accident. However, there were places where it didn’t seem enough breaks had occurred and there were other areas that didn’t quite match up going by the record they have of the accident.”

Connor paused as Hank slowly nodded, taking in the information. He then continued.

“There was also damage to the forehead. They originally believed the fracturing had been caused by making contact to the steering wheel. However, upon further inspection, it looks like his head would have had to make contact with the steering wheel about six times. They also suggested that was what actually killed him, either just from the head trauma or it is possible some of the fractured bones may have entered his brain. It was also very erratic. If the android had done it, he probably would have hit him in the same place on the head. Or the damage would have at least been closer rather than spread out over the forehead.”

“So it definitely wasn’t an accident then. Sounds like a crime of passion. So what made Maxwell so damn angry that he lashed out and killed his cousin?”

“I asked his mother that. Well, not him killing her nephew. A local officer is supposed to talk to her later. But from our initial conversations, she seemed to get on a lot better with her nephew rather than her own son.”

“Did Trevelyn kind of become the surrogate son and it pissed Maxwell off?”

“Not exactly. It seemed Maxwell was fine with ignoring his mother. They argued because Trevelyn was trying to get Maxwell to go out more. Besides buying groceries and going to the university to teach, he never did anything else. Even that didn’t necessarily anger Maxwell. Apparently it was whenever Trevelyn or his mother brought up that he was only spending time with the android that he ever got upset.”

“Hmm, starting to sound a little obsessive with this android. Still doesn’t explain why they’re both blowing up Cyberlife warehouses though.”

“No,” sighed Connor. “If the warehouses were just being left to rot, that would be one thing. Perhaps we could say he was trying to destroy any signs of how androids were previously treated. It could explain why they were both involved. But the new motions are supposed to turn the warehouses into helpful centers of blueblood and bio-components for injured androids. He’s only hurting androids by destroying them.”

Hank shrugged. “How have Nines and Chloe’s work been going?”

“It would appear Maxwell is very socially awkward. His medical records don’t show anything but he possibly has Asperger’s or a form of autism. The VB800 would always talk on behalf of him if they were out together.”

“Hmm, a bit surprising that it was Maxwell who spoke with Mr. Ramirez and killed the landlord then.”

“Perhaps it’s because of the increased incrimination involved in those acts?”

“So he’s trying to protect the android. But he’s also still allowing the android to get involved.”

“It would seem so.”

Hank let out a tired sigh before reaching into his desk. He pulled out the keys and tossed them to Connor. “Well, seeing as we’ve hit a dead end again, I’m gonna take a look at some of the other cases we have. You go feed the demon beast. I’ll meet you back at home.”

“Alright.”

Connor left and took a cab to Gavin’s apartment. Hank had gone the first time and had decided never again. To be fair, the cat was about as protective as any guard dog and did not like Hank at all. It was a shame Gavin hadn’t seen it. Connor imagined he would have ‘lost his shit’ as humans would say.

Tina had told him the cat’s name was Dragon, a reference to an old book and movie. Connor had quickly looked it up and asked, “Wasn’t Dragon one of the villains?”

Tina had snorted, a wide grin on her face. “Exactly.”

To be fair, it fit Gavin.

Dragon had different colored eyes like in the movie, though one was yellow and the other green rather than the blind, blue eye. Like the book though, Dragon had long orange and white fur and needle sharp fangs. He was large and fat and was honestly a bit unassuming at first.

When Connor got to the apartment, he had the cab wait since it wouldn’t take long. He quickly walked into the building, up to the third floor, and unlocked the door. Unlike the last two times, Dragon didn’t immediately jump out. Connor carefully closed the door and looked around. He took in the extra hair on the kitchen counter, the cans lying, unmoving on the floor. His eyes went to the slightly ajar cabinet door.

He let out a soft sigh. “Dragon, it won’t work.”

Connor ignored the cat for the moment. He went to one of the lower cabinets and started to go ahead and fill up the water bowl and place Dragon’s food for the night and tomorrow morning. As he was bent over, his eyes flicked up just in time to see Dragon jump at his face.

Connor stayed perfectly still in his current position as Dragon gripped his face with his claws.

“You know,” Connor said, his voice somewhat muffled as his mouth was covered with Dragon’s belly fluff, “this is more trouble for you than it is for me.”

He easily stood up straight. Dragon let out a yowl and finally let go. The cat landed on his feet and glared up at Connor as his skin grew back over the areas Dragon had scratched at.

“I realize this isn’t ideal for either of us, but Gavin…he’ll see you again.” Hopefully, Connor silently added.

Dragon let out another strangled yowl. It sounded like the cat was dying or something was extremely wrong with it. Connor had analyzed the cat’s organs on his last visit, but no. It was just the cat’s natural meow.

Connor walked over and picked up the items Dragon had knocked onto the floor and closed the cabinet. He did the litter box and bagged it up, taking it with him to throw away. Dragon followed him on the way back to the front door, growling all the while like he wanted to make sure Connor really did leave.

“Until next time Dragon.”

Dragon let out another warning yowl that honestly belonged in one of the old horror movies Hank had convinced him to watch. The cat continued to glare at Connor until the door was closed again. Connor locked it and headed to the garbage cans. He’d just thrown the bag in and was headed back towards the waiting cab when he got a call from Hank.

“Is there—”

“Get to 17…17-fuck! What-ok! 17525 Wyoming Ave! I’ll meet you there!”

Connor had no idea what was going on but sprinted across the lot to the car. “Hank are you—”

“Fuck, I’m-I’m-just get your ass there. I’ll meet you!”

Connor accessed the car and changed the destination. He could feel his thirium pump increasing, the equivalent of a human suddenly getting a rush of adrenaline. What had happened now?

* * *

Robert Lewis had been Tina’s partner for almost six years now. They’d been put together because while Tina had youth and faster reflexes on her side, Robert had the experience and wisdom. The partnership had worked well, neither ever requesting to be put with someone else. Robert was happy being a beat cop. It was what he was good at and he would have been happy being Tina’s partner until his retirement.

From day one however, he’d known Tina planned on bigger things. He’d encouraged her, and often let her take the lead whenever she asked. Though technically not old enough to be her father, the relationship was very close to that. The fact that Robert had invited her over for dinner a few times and his wife had immediately taken a motherly role to her had only encouraged it.

Sure, he didn’t get a lot of the references that she threw his way and all the TV shows she recommended came from a list that was a mile long now. But he cared about her and she him. They were partners after all, and you had to trust your partner had your back.

It had been heartbreaking, learning about the accident and knowing her career would come to a full stop. So far, not a single prosthetic for hands had been approved for duty by any police department. There were just too many fine motor motions that were needed that those devices couldn’t successfully recreate.

Robert wasn’t sure what Tina was going to do, but when he had first visited her, he’d made sure she knew he and his wife would help her in any way they could. It was an awful situation she was in, but she was tough. She’d figure things out one way or another.

For the moment, he was just driving around his area. He would have had a partner with him but with there being another bomb threat at a different warehouse, a lot of the cops were occupied. For now, it was just him as he kept an eye on the area and stayed on call with his wife.

“I’m just getting ready to go to the store now. Should I bake some more pastries?”

Robert laughed. “I’m pretty sure you overloaded Tina enough yesterday. You should also remember from the last time we had her over for dinner that she has little impulse control when you put sweets in front of her.”

“I know. It’s just-how about I make some for you to take into work then? It’s a stressful time for everyone in your department.”

It wasn’t hard to figure out what his wife was doing. He’d been married to her for nearly a decade and knew exactly what baking excessively meant. “Sweetheart, it’s ok. They’ll catch this guy soon.”

“It’s just been a while since I’ve felt I had to worry about you,” his wife sighed. “I mean, you don’t even have someone watching your back right now.”

“We’re spread thin at the moment. It’s just how it has to be.” He paused and looked at the newly blinking light. “I have to go hun. I’ve got a call coming in.”

“Oh, is the left over lasagna fine for dinner or—”

“Yes that’s fine! Besides, I’m sure the oven needs a rest with everything you’re making. I’ll see you tonight. Love you.”

“Love you.”

Robert quickly changed it over to the call. “Officer Lewis.”

“We just got a call from that middle school that’s going under renovations,” the operator replied. “Apparently someone broke in last night.”

“Who called it in?”

“The caretaker. She apparently checks on the place on the days when the builders aren’t working. She said she’ll be waiting outside for you.”

“Alright, I’m heading over now.”

Robert changed directions. He didn’t even need the address, knowing exactly which school it was. He’d actually gone there for middle school and he could attest to the fact that it was in dire need of repairs. Apparently all the kids had gotten split off into different school districts while they worked on it. Construction was supposed to finally finish this year.

By the time he pulled up, clouds had darkened the sky. It looked like rain. He didn’t see any sign of the caretaker but she must have just popped inside for the moment. He got out just as the first sprinkles of rain began to fall. He walked up to the entrance of the school. It was one of the few finished parts and not covered in building equipment and tarps. He knocked on the door, glancing into the darkened lobby—

“Oh god!” He pulled out his gun and pushed the door open. He quickly approached the woman on the floor but he…he didn’t know what to do.

She was an android and Robert had no idea if she was really dead or not. She certainly looked dead though. Her head had been jaggedly cut off and recently too going by the blue blood that was still visible and everywhere. Her eyes stared off, blank and dark.

“We got a 187-1,” he said into his walkie-talkie. It was the code for homicide with an added number so as to distinguish human and android victims. It was the first time he’d ever had to use it. “I need reinforcements and forensics. I’m going to clear out the area.”

Robert held his gun with both hands again. He walked over and first checked the office doors but they were all locked. He walked forward. One hall was covered in wood and had a warning about not passing that point without a hardhat. There was a padlock on the metal gate that acted as a door. Robert tested it, but it was locked too.

He turned away and started to walk down the more finished and opened hallway.

* * *

Fowler was still debating whether or not he needed the FBI’s help in this. A serial bomber was a serious situation and though it seemed like the perp. preferred out of the way places, there was no telling if a civilian would get caught up in the mix. Hank and Conner were making progress, but maybe they needed more hands for this one.

He was still trying to decide when he got a priority email. It was about the bomb they’d recovered. The technicians had pulled it apart only to find that none of the wires or anything had been hooked up to a chemical mixture. Instead, a note had been left inside. They’d sent a picture of it and Fowler quickly read the handwriting. He was up in seconds and walking out of the office.

“Who the hell is on patrol right now?!”

* * *

Tina had to admit, it was both incredibly interesting but also surprisingly boring to watch Elijah work. For her part, he mostly just had her sit beside him, occasionally turning to her to double check a measurement or to hold some component up to the stump. After the second, “Mr. Kamski,” he’d told her too just call him Elijah. She definitely preferred that. It made him seem more human though the dark circles under his eyes and messy hair certainly helped break the ‘godly’ image too.

At first, Tina thought it would be mostly silent between them. One of the androids, this one Clover as Chris had gone back to their home for a bit, sat in the corner and occasionally conversed with Tina. She was also kind enough to get up and grab Tina food as Elijah worked.

It was when she was gone that Elijah finally said something other than mumbling numbers to himself. “You’re the only friend of Gavin’s I’ve met in a while.”

It was an interesting way to start a conversation. It almost sounded more like a musing, like some of Elijah’s other thoughts had slipped out with the numbers. However, Tina would take it. Otherwise, she felt this whole thing was going to be dull as hell. After all, even though Dr. Farrell had seemed pretty great, she’d long since left to assist Dr. Brown with Gavin.

“When the hell was the last time you two talked?”

“Seven years ago.”

“Well that explains it then. I only started six years ago.” Tina waited but Elijah didn’t say anything else. “You know, this is when most people would go, ‘Oh really? How did you meet?’ or a simple ‘Tell me more!’”

Elijah didn’t immediately respond and Tina let out a disgruntled sigh.

“Alright, I will tell you more. Thanks for asking,” Tina sarcastically said. “There was a car crash that I was the first responder on. The car was self-driving and had just suddenly stopped working for no reason. The guy in it was a politician that had recently gotten a lot of public death threats. It all seemed a little suspicious so I called for back-up.

“Gavin had like, just made detective I think. He came down to interview the guy and while everyone was working, I noted this guy walking up towards the line. Later, we found out he’d messed with the car to cause it to short-circuit at a specific crossing. Then if the crash didn’t kill the politician, the guy would pop up and kill him.

“At the time though, I had no idea. It was all just a hunch when I saw him approach. I managed to run over, pushed the politician out of the way, and tackled Gavin too since he was directly in the man’s line of sight. One of the androids working at that time grabbed the suspect before he could even fire off a shot.”

For a split second, Tina thought Elijah might not have been listening. A pout started to form on her face, but before she started talking again, Elijah finally responded.

“So you became friends because you possibly saved his life.”

“Naw. I broke his hand and was indebted to buying him the same amount of coffee as his medical bill cost,” smirked Tina. “You start to just naturally talk to someone when they bother you day in and day out about getting them their next cup and voila! We became friends.”

“That sounds like how one would become friends with him.”

Tina chuckled. “Yeah, totally Gavin. Makes it hard to imagine you two getting along.”

That comment at least seemed to finally grab his attention. He almost sounded offended. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I bet there was a lot at play right? Jealousy, the money, the fame?”

He let out a tired sigh. “No, not for the reasons you’re thinking of.”

“Oh, really? Then what?”

“Misunderstandings and foolish pride,” came the mumbled response as Elijah finally focused on the components in front of him again.

The wording was a little cryptic and just made Tina more curious. However, instead of pushing on her current questions, she just really watched. He really had been focused this entire time, each move bleeding with desperation and something close to panic, just more controlled. She’d suspected that there was more going on than what Dr. Farrell and Elijah had initially said. After watching Elijah work for several hours though, now she was sure of it.

The idea she had in her head was just that, an idea. However, she decided to jump over the edge with it. She was pretty sure she was right anyways.

“Will you just be straight with me?” Tina made her voice a little louder and forceful just to make sure it caught Elijah’s attention. He did glance at her, but didn’t fully turn away from his work. Tina let out a tiny sigh and leaned in closer. “Ok, listen. Maybe it has to do with doctor-patient confidentiality. I mean, I’m his friend. But I’m not his family. Or maybe Dr. Farrell didn’t say more because she didn’t want to pressure me anymore into this already risky and insane decision.

“But I have decided. I’m sitting here with you. I told you yes, so just be fucking honest. Ok? I don’t care how much Dr. Farrell and Brown are getting paid. If they’re worth half their reputation as doctors, then no way in hell would they be allowing such a risky procedure on Gavin when he’d apparently be fine without it. Yeah, he’d be crippled and shit and that’s awful, but no way would they not allow him to wake up and make his own decision.

“So tell me. Tell me because I’m his friend, because I said yes. Just be fucking honest with me and tell me how bad he really is,” Tina finally finished.

She’d watched to make sure Elijah was listening. Small ticks around his eyes and brow showed that he had. He didn’t respond though and Tina couldn’t help but let out a little frustration. She may not have been a genius but she felt she had the right to know!

“Just tell me—” She’d grabbed his arm. She just wanted him to stop and look at her. But in doing so, she stopped yelling. She could feel the tremor that was running through him now, and though lack of sleep and hunger could have been the cause, Tina doubted they were the only things at play. Now Elijah was purposefully looking away. He wasn’t even looking at the work in front of him. He was just doing anything to avoid her eyes.

“Is it…is it really that bad?” she whispered.

“Complications were inevitable. Considering the damage.” Elijah spoke softly, carefully. It was like he was describing a machine rather than his own brother, but Tina imagined it was the only thing keeping him from completely breaking down. “But the issues started to cascade. When one was supposedly fixed, another occurred. Eight…” A shuddering breath. “Eight hours ago, he completely stopped breathing on his own.”

“Holy shit.”

“You’re right. It’s not just about giving him limbs and the ability to walk again. What I’m proposing will provide the support his internal systems need to keep from cascading further, to keep him alive,” whispered Elijah. “If I perform the base procedure on you, I’ll know this idea works and I know there’s a chance for Gavin.”

“If Gavin’s this bad, you have to work quickly though.”

“I was going to propose we start your surgery this afternoon and then Gavin’s tomorrow.”

Tina’s mouth dropped open in shock. “But that’s fucking insane! All the parts you’ll have to build and prep—”

“I can do it. Even if I couldn’t, we can’t afford the time for Gavin,” Elijah murmured, still looking away. “So with all that known, are you still willing to help?”

“Fuck, of course I am. You just made it even more important that I do.” Tina hesitated for a second. Elijah was still slightly turned away. She still couldn’t see his face or any reactions he might make. However, she went with her gut instinct and hugged him tight, burying her face against his back. She could feel him stiffen and Tina quickly said, “I’m sorry.”

They stayed like that for a moment before Elijah whispered, “Why?”

“Because it’s what people say when shit happens to a loved one, a family member. You don’t really know what kind of pain they’re dealing with, what to do about it, so you just tell them that you’re sorry. But I…I’m guessing no one’s said it to you yet. So I’m sorry.”

Tina waited. She waited until she could feel the stiffness ease away, and Elijah just kind of slumped forward. Considering how fast all this was happening, and the fact that Elijah and Gavin had been so distant, Tina imagined mostly shock had accompanied those finding out they were related. Few had probably paused and remembered that Elijah was still human, that he was dealing with possibly losing his brother—

Tina’s phone started ringing. “Sorry—”

“It’s fine. Go ahead and answer it,” Elijah assured her as she backed up.

She fumbled with the phone a bit, not completely used to using her left hand. At that point, Clover came in and set some food in front of Tina. A quick glance at Elijah showed his eyes were tightly shut. Tina carefully watched, wanting to make sure he didn’t burst into tears or anything, but he held it together and quickly turned to his work again. Tina looked at the name flashing on her screen and finally answered right before it went to silent.

“Hey Chris what’s…dude don’t…why would you say that?”

Tina had just been trying to comfort Elijah, but now she could feel herself going numb. Clover stepped closer. She said something, but the words didn’t process.

“But he’s going to be o-no. Oh, that’s a no then. Ok…so it’s…ok. No I’m fine. Yeah, ok. Lying a little. Did he-oh. He did. Well I guess…ok then. Just call me when you get here. Or if something else develops before then. Yeah, no. I’ll be ok. I’ll talk to you later.”

Tina ended the call. She looked at the new phone her parents had gotten her due to the last one getting damaged in the explosion. She looked as her expression showed up, reflected in the dark screen.

“Tina, what happened?” Clover asked.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see even Elijah had paused in his work again, watching her carefully.

After the first tear fell, Tina threw the phone across the room and tried to slam her right hand into the table, forgetting too late that she could no longer make a fist. The pain of it ricocheted up her arm as her face scrunched up and more tears fell.

* * *

For once, Nines didn’t have Chloe by his side. She’d gone back home to check on some things with her other, Chris, and was also planning on bringing Elijah a fresh change of clothes, even though it was doubtful he’d take the time to actually change.

Even though Nines had promised to continually keep Chloe in the loop, he didn’t want to waste time waiting on her to return. Besides, this would be a quick trip.

He was headed towards a gas station that was near the apartment Maxwell and the VB800 had lived in. This was Nines’ first time going there. However, prior to that, he had viewed footage showing a previous visit by the VB800. The footage had come from the day before his and Maxwell’s own apartment had gone up in flames.

The reason it was noticeable was that the gas station also had a store that sold food and some simple household items. One of those was nails and they matched the shrapnel that had been used in the bomb. The nails could have technically been bought anywhere in the city. Connor had checked and they were sadly a very common brand. However, considering it had happened right before the first explosion and the android had left with a bag that looked like it might have been caring the nails in it, Nines wanted to see what could be found. It was doubtful the cashier knew anything but there was always a chance and mapping out that final day as completely as possible was important.

Before Nines got out, he did call Chloe to tell her where he was. Unsurprisingly, her first words were, “You should wait for me.”

“It’s doubtful anything is going to come of this. At most, it will be some general information. It will add to the whole picture but I doubt it will fill in any major blanks.”

“Did you at least tell Connor?”

“I’m telling you.”

“Nines,” Chloe whined.

“They were unavailable, probably working a scene. If you feel inclined, you can try to get in contact with them, but I’m already here. Trust me Chloe. Not much will come of this.”

“I only partially believe you.” Nines could hear the pout in her voice. “Just promise to be careful. I’ll see you back at the hospital?”

“Yes.”

“Well alright then. Please be careful.”

“I will,” Nines promised. He ended the call and got out.

It was starting to sprinkle as Nines walked across the small lot and inside. The cashier was the only person there. Nines did a quick analysis of the space. Right away he picked up an extremely light chemical trace. Well wasn’t it nice that they were so lax on cleaning. He bent down to test it. The chemicals matched what he had on file from the other explosions. It seemed the VB800 was at least partially involved in the bomb making process, enough to leave residue on his clothing and his surroundings.

“Hey? What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the cashier yelled out.

Nines stood up and the man’s annoyance quickly left him as Nines clearly had the height advantage.

“I-I mean…I can’t have people doing weird shit like—”

“This android came in several days ago. Do you recognize him?” Nines showed the picture as he came closer.

The man just barely glanced at it before focusing on Nines again. He relaxed a bit as some pieces fell into place for him. “Oh yeah, my boss said the police had gotten copies of the security cameras. What the hell did he do?”

Since he just assumed Nines was an officer, which he was, just on leave, Nines rolled with it. He started the questioning. “So you were here?”

“Yeah, Pax isn’t a regular or anything but he comes in from time to time.”

So they finally had a name for the android. “Did you notice anything unusual?”

“I thought it was weird whenever he bought food at first. Told me he had a human friend called Jackson. Sometimes he’d get some other things. I’m guessing for just general upkeep shit around the house. You know? Is he in trouble or anything?”

“Why would you think that?” Nines said, easily deflecting the question.

“I don’t! He’s pretty nice. Definitely not a drunk that wanders in and pisses on the floor or something, you know? If he can even get drunk. Or piss. I actually don’t know—”

“But he does stand out,” Nines replied, dragging the conversation back in the direction he needed. “Is it just because he’s an android?”

“Oh hell no?! Get plenty of your types in here. This is a gas station after all and all people gotta drive. You know? No, no it’s just some of the conversations we’d get into.”

Nines cocked his eyebrow. He stayed silent, hoping the man would just continue talking. He did.

“We’d just talk about our days you know? Seemed we both had pretty fucking boring ones so if he was here long and there weren’t other customers, we’d usually turn to whatever news was on.” The cashier gestured towards the TV. “Mostly it was whatever, you know? Just weird shit happening as weird shit does. We’d laugh or gawk. Talk about how fucking crazy the world had become. You know? But then there might be some coverage about some police matter and oh boy did he get upset! No offense of course.”

When the man finally seemed to take a breather, Nines replied, “None taken. And?”

“He would just get upset. You know? But it wasn’t like just any crime that got reported by the news. He didn’t seem to like police being at rallies or political events led by Markus or other android leaders. It was mostly that kind of stuff. He’d sometimes get real suspicious when a reported case involved an android. Didn’t think the cops here deserved to deal with them after what happened beforehand.”

“An understandable hesitancy,” Nines replied. However, if this was tied to the true motive, clearly it had gone too far for Maxwell and Pax.

Thankfully, the cashier helped to confirm that. “Oh hell no. He got real fucking angry. You know? Not just a frown or scornful word. I mean mad as shit.”

Nines slowly nodded. “Did anything specific ever stick out to you? Other than the anger?”

“There was a piece talking about the first android allowed on the force not long after the revolution. The one built to be an android detective and everything? You know, he was pretty famous even before the revolution .To be honest, almost mistook you for him.”

“We get that a lot,” Nines quickly said, wanting to hurry the conversation along. “But what did Pax say?”

“Well then he got really upset about that detective android especially. He just couldn’t understand why an android would go and work alongside the force. Called him a traitor. Traitor to what though, no idea. He got pretty emotional that time. Only moment when I was kind of scared—”

“Anything else?”

“Naw, nothing I can think of.”

“Please call the police if you do think of anything else,” Nines said.

“Yeah, yeah no probl-hey! That’s your car right? Looked like someone tagged it.”

Nines quickly turned around. The person was gone but even inside and through the rain, he could see the glow of the electric tag.

It was pointless asking the cashier if he’d seen who it was. His eyes wouldn’t have been able to give Nines an accurate description. Instead, he whipped back around and asked, “What do the security cameras have?”

Thankfully, the cashier immediately complied. Whether he just didn’t care about protocols like calling his boss or he actually detected the urgency in Nines’ voice, it was hard to say. What was important was he moved back and rewound the footage for the past couple of minute, but…

“It looks like the cameras were pointing in a different direction at the time—”

“Damn it,” growled Nines. He immediately rushed outside. He simply jumped straight to calling 911, not wanting to bother with wasting time on the chance Connor or Hank didn’t answer. He quickly told the operator all the information he had concisely and smoothly. She promised to send someone right away, though the time was longer than Nines had hoped. Damn, something else major must have happened in the city then.

It was pouring now as Nines stood beside his car. His hair was already sticking to his forehead and his clothes soaked. Still, the tag was visible. It had been done across the entire right side. Nines read:

_You have a choice._

His eyes quickly took in the area. If there were any fingerprints, they’d already been smudged by the rain. However, he did latch onto the tagger that had been dropped near the alleyway behind the gas station and the next building. He hurried over, getting ready to bend down and look the tagger over when the fist came.

Nines just barely avoided it. He went in quick, first blocking the next punch and then throwing a kick up high. It was Pax. Had he been following him? Possibly. Nines and Chloe had been going around his usual haunts the past couple of days. Or it was just possible someone had been more of a friend than Nines had thought and had warned the android and Maxwell.

Whatever the case, Nines focused on the fight. He’d figure out how and why later. The one good thing though was he was far more advanced than the VB800 and after blocking several more attacks, Nines proved it by doing a solid kick past Pax’s defenses and dropping him. There was a struggle, but Nines effectively got him on his back and pulled his arms into place. Nines kept his body weight pressed to Pax’s back and locked him into position.

“So this is your choice,” Pax growled, his voice somewhat muffled from having it pressed into the concrete.

Nines shook his wet, loose hair from his face. “Choice? Even without taking into account all you’ve done, you just assaulted an officer.”

“An officer,” Pax spit out. “That is your choice.”

Nines’ mind worked quickly. He was almost one hundred percent sure he understood Pax’s motivation now, though Maxwell’s involvement was still a little confusing. He quickly contacted the same operator as before. “How far out?”

“About eleven minutes.”

“Thank you. Inform them I have apprehended a suspect. A VB800 registered by the name Pax.” Nines quickly analyzed his face. “Serial number 318-36-908.”

The call ended and Nines turned his focus back to Pax. “VB800, registered name Pax, I am arresting you for assaulting an officer, suspicion of property destruction, and on suspicion of attempted murder of two fellow officers. Anything you say can be held against you in a court of law.”

“You! You and the fucking 800 one. Working for fucking cops. After everything they did to us—”

“What they did was misguided and out of fear,” hissed Nines, cutting him off. He pushed Pax’s head harder into the ground and leaned close. “But if we don’t allow them to grow and change, then we are no better than them. Connor and I chose to work with them because we understand that doing so will strengthen android and human bonds. What you do threatens to destroy that.”

“You think I don’t know that!”

Nines let out a frustrated sigh. “You’re letting your own personal anger affect—”

“I’m fighting for our people! Unlike you!”

“I’m done arguing,” Nines shot back. “You will be prosecuted. You will be found guilty for all charges, and we will find Maxwell and stop him.”

Nines glanced back towards the road. The cop cars should be pulling up in about the next seven minutes. However, he quickly turned back as Pax started laughing.

“What?”

The android just laughed harder.

“What is so funny?” Nines repeated, his voice growing harsh and cold.

“Nothing. Just that you got two other charges to add.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re right. We screwed up a bit with that first one. We didn’t expect the door to hold as well as it did and protect them from the blast. But don’t worry. You’ll need to charge us for two accounts of first degree too.”

Nines lifted his weight a little so that he could flip Pax over. He slammed him back into the pavement before he grabbed Pax’s shirt and pulled him closer. All the while Pax just laughed harder. “What did you do—”

The pain. It was immense and familiar. He could tell Pax was just as affected as Nines dropped him and his hands went to his ears. No! The cop cars should be there at any moment—

Nines felt himself get kicked off. He could just barely make out a figure grabbing Pax and pulling him up. Nines quickly tried to change priority of his features as they tried to reboot, primarily his motor functions. But just as he was pushing himself up and regaining some form of control, he was pushed down again. Past the emergency protocols and error codes, Maxwell appeared in his vision, clearly for the first time.

“I-I’m sorry. But they need to pay. I told you I was helping. You’re the one who’s at fault here for choosing to miss our finale.” Maxwell sorrowfully shook his head. “For what it’s worth, we both wanted you to be different from the 800.” He ripped open Nines’ shirt. He pressed down in the right order so as to open up his systems, Nines tried to fight him but was unable to stop what was happing as so many systems were still running on manual or just completely off.

Nines watched his pump regulator get ripped out. The error flashed across his face.

_SHUT DOWN IMMINENT_

Nines tried to reach for it but Maxwell backed up, still holding onto it. Nines rolled over, trying to get up as he watched Maxwell pull Pax to his feet, almost fully supporting the android.

All Nines could do was watch them go, the numbers steadily ticking down in front of his eyes.

* * *

By the time Connor got to the location, it was pouring. There were police covering the area, the electric, yellow tape already up in the rain. An ambulance stood off to the side, but the fact that the paramedics were just waiting showed it was far too late.

Connor sent the cab on its way as he noted Hank’s car was there but there was no actual sign of him. He had to be inside. Connor went straight for the entrance, not bothering to ask anyone what was going on. From the looks on their faces, no one was ready to tell him anyways.

He was at the entrance when Chris came barreling out. He knocked into Connor and then grabbed some railing, dry heaving over the edge.

“Chris—”

“I…it’s fucking awful Connor. Just…prepare yourself.”

Connor took a step forward, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder before turning back towards the entrance. Dread filled him as he walked in and quickly noted the people surrounding the android body. One of the forensic people said, “Lt. Anderson is around the corner.”

Connor nodded, his view lingering for a moment before he continued down the hall and turned left.

Ah. He understood why Chris had nearly thrown up now.

Hank stood over the body, one hand covering his eyes as his free arm hugged his stomach. He glanced up at hearing Connor approach and muttered, “It was never about the fucking warehouses. The bomb in the second Cyberlife warehouse? A fucking dud. Jeffrey said there was a god damn note in it. It made it pretty god damn clear that the first bombing was a mistake. That the door must have been opened too slowly and it partially shielded Chen and Reed from the blast. Why do all this? We still don’t fucking know. But the note made it clear it’s us they’re gunning for and it apparently promised the next time would be more successful. Well, looks like they were pretty fucking successful.”

Connor only nodded, not knowing what words to respond with.

He bent down, eyes roaming over the body. He didn’t have to access the database to find a name. He recognized Robert Lewis, Tina’s partner. The blast had hit him on the left side. Blood covered the slightly damaged hallway. Half his face and upper body were practically gone. The cloths somewhat burned away, the flesh visible and singed with shrapnel sticking out of him. One undamaged eye stared up at the ceiling. Connor checked to make sure there was no evidence around the area of his face and when he found nothing, he carefully pushed his eye closed.

“Did he suffer?”

Connor stood back up, stepping closer to Hank. “No. The trauma was immediate and the blast was focused on the upper part of the body. He died instantly Hank.”

“Fuck. Access the call that pulled him over, will you?”

Connor did so, listening to the woman’s voice as she spoke. He walked away from the body and back to the android’s. He leaned down and stuck his fingers along the vocal box which was now visible thanks to the decapitation. Connor walked back over to Hank and said, “She was killed. Then the VB800 accessed her vocal box and identification code. He called the police using her so as to avoid suspicion like the burner numbers from before.”

“Lewis’ last transmission said something about making sure the rest of the area was clear. This hallway was the only one that was easily accessed. He was fucking guided right into it. Looks like a tripwire,” Hank muttered, gesturing towards the ground.

Connor bent down again, taking in all facts about the pieces before standing up again. He didn’t reconstruct the image, not right away. A part of him was even saying, what was the point? He knew Lewis was dead and gone and that pain was enough. He didn’t want to replay it. Instead, he focused on Hank and asked, “Why cops? There was nothing in Maxwell’s file that suggested he’d have any animosity towards them. And why is the VB800 helping?”

“Who fucking knows. To be fair, plenty of fucking reasons to hate cops, but you bash us on twitter. Get some people and fucking protest if you have a problem or some shit. You don’t do this and you sure as hell don’t kill innocents to get to your goal.”

Connor nodded in agreement.

“You get anything from the body?”

“Maxwell’s fingerprints. He was definitely involved. I can’t actually place the VB800 here but only a fellow android could have accessed the other victim’s voice box and called us like that. And I doubt there’s another android helping them in this. We would have seen signs already.”

“Yeah, probably. I’m going to call the paramedics in. See if they left anything else and then let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Connor nodded. He started to walk down the hallway, eyes zeroing in on the nearly invisible footprints. He eventually figured out that Maxwell and the android had accessed the school through the side hall. He couldn’t tell where they’d come from though, the rain already washing away any trail. Instead, Connor quickly went over when construction was scheduled to occur at the school and the times which the caretaker came in. He narrowed down the time and decided they had to have set up the bomb and killed her between six that morning and about noon, taking into account the time it would have taken to put the bomb up and make the call.

That meant this had likely happened during or after the call about the second Cyberlife warehouse. Clearly the goal had been to lure them into a false sense of security. It had worked.

Connor did eventually reconstruct the scene of Officer Lewis, just to make sure. However, nothing was gained except having the chance to see his final moments. Connor quickly stopped the simulation and closed his eyes. In that instance, he had never felt so helpless in trying to protect his colleagues.

Now that he was done, he quickly left, moving around the paramedics who were still trying to pick up some of the pieces of Lew. He met Hank back at the front doors.

“Find anything else?”

“Some pollen was left behind, likely from the clothes of Maxwell or the VB800. It won’t give us a definitive location as to where they are but it does cut out about half the city.”

“Half the god damn city,” huffed Hank. They walked outside and he paused to look over at Chris who was still somewhat bent over. “You gonna be alright kid?”

He looked pale but forced himself to stand a little straighter and nodded. “I uh…I already called Tina. She wants to come with me to go tell his wife.”

Hank nodded. “You and her were closer to him. It should be you guys. Good luck.”

“Thanks,” whispered Chris. He walked off towards his own car as Hank and Connor made their way to Hank’s.

It looked like their plan to call it a day had been cut short as they drove back to the precinct instead.

“Out of the places where the pollen would be found, can you at least narrow down the likelihood of them hiding out in one of those places?” asked Hank. “Like look for some abandoned fucking buildings or something?”

“Already began doing it,” Connor murmured.

“Good. Tell me if you get anything promising.”

Connor nodded, the rest of the drive quickly turning silent. It was different than with Chen and Reed. They’d at least been alive, had a fighting chance. But with this, Lewis was just completely gone.

They arrived back at the precinct. When they walked in, Fowler seemed to be finishing up with some small speech to the men and women that were in the bullpen. He glanced back at Hank and Connor. “Dismissed,” he told the rest of the room before gesturing for the two of them to come up and talk to him.

What Connor was hoping for was to see the note that had been left in the bomb. What he really wanted was for Fowler to say something new had come of it, that maybe they could narrow down the location where they were now making these bombs and/or living. Instead, what Fowler said was the last thing he or Hank wanted to hear.

“You’re off the case.”

“What the fuck Jeffrey!”

“Captain Fowler, our fellow officers’ lives are on the line. You can’t expect us to—”

“No! That’s where you got it fucking wrong Connor! It’s not just your co-workers. It’s also your lives on the fucking line here! I already called the FBI. Technically we don’t know exactly what ideal or political motivation is making them want to kill cops, but they’re treating this and all previous acts as terrorist in nature,” Fowler responded. “I already told everyone else in this room. Until we have these people in custody, treat every call, no matter how god damn normal, as suspicious. You always go with a fucking partner. And no one, _no one_ , works on this god damn case unless the FBI specifically requests it.”

“God damn motherfuckers,” growled Hank. “At least fucking tell me it’s not that motherfucker Perkins.”

“No, after the last incident he moved to a different jurisdiction.”

“Thank Christ for that,” muttered Hank.

“But if they’re aiming for us, and seemingly our department specifically as it’s only ours that has been attacked, then we should do something. Anything really,” Connor tried, still not wanting this to be completely ripped from him. It had gotten personal very quickly and Connor didn’t feel right being unable to find peace for the victims thus far.

“I get it. Don’t think that I don’t. You aren’t all just my co-workers. You’re my god damn responsibility, even if you seem to forget that,” Fowler said with a pointed look towards Hank. “But after losing two officers in one day, I can’t risk another.”

Though Connor’s mouth obviously worked differently from a human’s, he felt he finally understood what ‘went dry’ meant. Hank’s shoulders slouched a bit. “Shit,” he whispered.

After just losing Officer Lewis, and now this… Connor hadn’t even been able to be there for it. How was Kamski reacting to it? Chloe or the other RT600s? Tina? “When…when did Gavin…”

“Oh no. As far as I know, they’re still forcing his heart to beat somehow,” sighed Fowler. “Not that I even know why if even now he’s being forced in and out of surgery. But no, Nines passed away about forty minutes ago.”

“Wait, are you fucking kidding me?” gasped Hank.

For Connor, it was like someone had pulled out his heart and then put it back in, giving him a false sense of relief only to pull it out again. “How?”

“My guess is he was working the case off the books,” sighed Fowler. The glare he shot both of them showed he suspected they’d known. “The dispatcher said he’d somehow caught the android involved in all this. He managed to give us the android’s registered name and serial number. Also said something about them wanting to give him a choice or some shit. They sent a cop car over but obviously everyone was spread thin and they just…they got there too late. The android had fled and Nines had already shut down by the time they got there. Don’t know what went down but my guess is our second suspect was involved and they somehow overpowered him.”

“God fucking damn it.”

“But…but how?” Connor murmured.

“Do you really want to know that?” sighed Hank. Fowler looked like he agreed with him.

“Please.”

Fowler shook his head but relented despite how much it seemed to pain him. “They took out his pump regulator. Don’t know where it went either. Had to have taken it with them because he…fuck. He couldn’t do anything. Just laid there on the god damn pavement and bled out like any god damn human would.”

Hank looked down at the ground, a pained expression on his face. The look from Fowler clearly showed he was expecting Connor to mimic Hank. However, a different idea was forming in Connor’s head.

“That was it? Just the pump regulator? No other damage?”

“Yeah, that was it.”

“What the fuck are you thinking Connor?”

“Where is he?”

“In the morgue. Technically doesn’t need to be, but it would have felt wrong hoisting him up in the evidence room—what the hell Connor?!”

Connor didn’t pause to answer Fowler. He just ran as fast as he could downstairs.

* * *

Chloe had tried to get into contact with Nines on the way back towards Detroit. The attempts had become more and more desperate until she’d contacted the precinct directly. At first, they had tried to avoid saying anything as it was an on-going case. However, Chloe had begged and begged until they had finally told her the bare minimum.

It was everything she’d feared.

The one day she hadn’t gone out with Nines. The one day she’d said she was going to be busy, that he would have to do it alone. Just that one day and now…now…

It was hard to tell if she was already mourning or still in shock by the time she made it to the hospital. A part of her wanted to go to the precinct. As long as she didn’t see his body, it wasn’t real. Right? But no, it was foolish to think like that.

Was this how Elijah had felt? Going to see Gavin for the first time in years? Knowing that it couldn’t possibly be good and yet still hoping? Because Chloe couldn’t help it. The hope was still there, desperate and growing more painful by the second. She had only just met him and now Nines…he was…he…

She arrived at the hospital. By this point, she didn’t need to request Dr. Torres or anyone else. She knew where to go and hers and her others’ presence was now established by other members of the staff, even if they didn’t fully understand what was going on behind the scenes.

She walked into the work room. Clover and Cora were there. Elijah was bent over, working on a part, just like how she’d left him.

Clover and Cora looked at her, worried glances passing between the two. Elijah just barely looked up. He started talking before Chloe could even try.

“I appreciate the work you’ve been doing with Nines, but I don’t want you going out with him again.”

It was like he’d gone in and ripped her tongue out. She felt like she couldn’t speak. It was made even worse because she knew Elijah couldn’t have known. She tried. She opened her mouth and tried but nothing was coming out. The fresh cloths she’d brought Elijah quickly became like a lifeline. She hugged them to her chest.

“Tina Chen’s partner was killed in another explosion.”

Chloe quickly covered her mouth to keep the strangled noise from escaping.

“I know it’s for Gavin. The fact that you care at all for him, after all this time, it is extraordinarily kind of you. But I believe it’s become increasingly clear that it was never about the location. It’s about hurting the police.”

It was about more than hurting. So, so much more.

“Having you associate with them, I…” And then Elijah started to break. The sleepless nights, the lack of food, the stress and strain on his body, it all started to show. “I just…I tell everyone I’m sure because I have to be. Because if I’m not correct, then everything is put into question. But I can’t just ignore the numbers.”

Bitter, angry emotion began to enter his voice. His hands had stopped working as he stared at the table.

“If this doesn’t work, Gavin dies. All those years lost, and it was all because of me. Because I was to certain of my own words, because I knew I had to be right and Gavin wrong and I pushed him away and—” A strangled laugh escaped his lips. His head fell back as he looked up at the ceiling. “And now I have to be certain again. Certain so I can ultimately push him away again, but at least he’ll live. But if I’m wrong and the probability is against me…”

Elijah dropped his head again. His shoulders shook.

“I can’t lose you too Chloe. I don’t care how unfair you might think it. It’s too great a risk right now. You are not to go with Nines again—”

“Elijah!” It was actually Clover who finally spoke up. Elijah jumped and finally focused on her, which at that point she gestured to Chloe.

He turned around, moving over in an instant as the tears came down her face. “What happ-no. What a stupid question to ask,” whispered Elijah. He took a deep breath, shaky breath, and instead said, “Is it Nines?”

Chloe rapidly nodded her head.

Elijah opened his arms and quickly enveloped her as she moved close. He kissed the top of her head as Chloe’s tears came more rapidly.

“I did not know him well, not as well as you were getting to know him, but he seemed decent. He seemed a good partner for Gavin even,” murmured Elijah. His grip tightened just a little more. “You are hurting and you feel helpless, but right now I am begging you, do not take this as reason to get more involved.”

“They killed him Elijah. They killed him and—”

“I can’t lose you.” Elijah’s grip tightened even more. The grip might have even been painful for a human but Chloe just rested her head against his chest. “I can’t lose you,” he whispered again. “I can’t lose you and Gavin—”

“You won’t lose him Elijah,” Cora finally said approaching them both.

Clover nodded, joining the group hug with Chloe at the center. “If anyone can do it, you can.”

“But that’s just the thing. I don’t think I can.”

Chloe looked up sharply and even Clover and Cora flinched. If there was one thing that had never wavered inside Elijah, it was his own capabilities and intelligence. Call it narcissism or something more serious like a type of personality disorder, but that part of him had never changed. Until now.

Suddenly it became Chloe hugging Elijah instead. Cora and Clover still moved in close and put their arms around them.

“Elijah, we…we deal with that if it comes,” whispered Chloe. “But you said you can’t lose me. So don’t give up on Gavin now, before you’ve even really begun.”

Chloe hugged him tightly, burying her face against his chest again. She wished there was something she could do for him, anything to give him a boost, to get him back on track. But they couldn’t waste time. Already she could feel him pulling away, from her and Clover and Cora.

“Tina said she would be back this afternoon after speaking with her partner’s wife,” Elijah murmured. “I need to finish this for when she comes back in.”

Chloe rubbed the tears away, looking at the new cloths she’d planned to bring Elijah. “I’m sorry. I’ve only crumpled them up and ruined them.”

“It’s alright Chloe. I wouldn’t have had time to change anyways,” Elijah replied. His hands moved over the components, even as tears formed in his eyes but didn’t fall. He took a sharp breath and added, “Please, wait until after the procedure to tell Tina. Her body is under enough stress as it is. Anymore and it could cause unnecessary risk during the surgery.”

Chloe silently nodded, wiping at her face again as Cora hugged her from the side and Clover put a hand on her other shoulder. Thinking about just how much this was hurting her, Chloe couldn’t even imagine what Connor and Lt. Anderson were going through, what Tina would go through after the procedure. So many of their colleagues, their friends. For the moment, she was too wrapped up in grief to think about what would come next. However, a small part of her knew that despite Elijah’s words, she’d have to break his heart.

The people involved had to be stopped and Chloe refused to let others getting hurt before this was over.

* * *

Connor ran down into the morgue. Their mortician, Sung, squeaked in shock. “De-detective! What—”

“Where’s Nines?”

She quickly pointed to a zipped up bag. Connor went over and pulled the zipper down as Hank and Fowler finally followed him down the stairs.

“Oh Jesus,” sighed Hank.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” demanded Fowler as Sung slowly crept forward.

“He’s not dead. Not yet.”

“Not-what the hell? He’s bled out,” Fowler said.

Sung nodded. “I’m sorry, but all his data was lost. He’s as good as dead Detective.”

“You should know this,” Fowler continued. “You’re the one who gave me protocols on what to do if an android’s life is in danger of dying and when there’s no chance—”

“Nines is different. I didn’t know at first, but it came up in a conversation recently between us,” Connor said as he started to analyze Nines’ body.

Hank’s mixture of anger and loss finally dropped. Curiosity took over and he finally stepped closer. “Different how?”

“Assuming that massive internal damage didn’t occur, Cyberlife wanted to attempt a backup system that would place the android in stasis for longer so there was an increased chance of saving them. Of course, even if Cyberlife had continued as it once had, they never would have implemented it in further examples due to how complicated the addition was and just how expensive it turned out to be.”

“But it means we could bring him back?” asked Fowler.

Connor quickly finished his analysis. “It means he’s not actually dead. Yet. It’s a secondary, shorter and smaller system that has its own separate quantity of thirium. It only starts up if danger of a shut down occurs but it’s not enough to keep him fully running, or awake as you might say. That’s why he’s like this now. Hank, you remember where the spare bio-components and thirium are?”

“On it!”

Though the actual distribution of spare parts and thirium was still somewhat in question, Connor’s connection to Markus had gotten him the spare parts he needed in case of an emergency. This would be his first time using any of it, though surprisingly not on himself.

Hank came back quickly, letting out small, gasping huffs showing just how quickly he had run. “Are…you two…even compatible?”

“The software is. His actual hardware setup is different though,” Connor said.

“Well how long does he have until he actually shuts down?” asked Fowler.

“Less than twenty minutes.”

“Shit! Then hurry up Connor!”

Connor quickly assessed Nines cavity and the bio-component he’d had pulled out. The most important part was making sure the wires all lined up. However, whereas Connor’s was built to click into place so to speak, Nines’ body moved around his to secure it. It was meant to make it hard to yank out but, because it had been forcefully removed, it meant there was damage to the area too.

Either way, this wouldn’t be a permanent solution but a quick calculation showed that Nines could live like this for well over five months, plenty of time in which to get a proper replacement for him. It would have to do for now.

Connor looked at the bio-component in his hand again and swiftly ripped off part of the casing. He could hear Hank curse in the background. Obviously this was tricky. He couldn’t risk actually damaging the internal mechanism but he also had to make sure it fit Nines correctly. He tore off another small, outer latch that Nines simply didn’t need.

“Alright, you may want to stand back.”

Connor positioned himself over the hole. He pushed the regulator in, pausing as it caught. Connor twisted it slightly and then forced it in with all his strength. The moment it popped in, it took a few seconds as Nines’ systems started to recalibrate. Connor quickly jumped back like everyone else though as Nines suddenly shot forward. A horrifying sound was heard as Nines sucked in a massive amount of air, his internal pressure leveling out again. The noise thankfully started to lessen rather quickly, but before Nines could even say anything, Fowler slapped him hard enough across the face that his skin had to move back over his cheek.

“Don’t you ever pull that shit on me again!”

Nines took in one last, stabilizing breath. “Sir?”

“Oh don’t even think of fucking ‘sir-ing’ me. You should have never been working on this case to begin with.”

Hank made a noise in the back of his throat. “Yeah well—”

“Don’t even think about it! I know damn well you had something to do with this too. What all of you seem to be forgetting is we have protocols for a reason and because you broke them, you nearly made me have to announce two deaths to the press today.”

Connor watched carefully as Nines still was getting everything in working order. Nines eventually was able to focus on Fowler, one hand clutching his midsection where the skin was unable to grown back over due to the damage and somewhat foreign bio-component. “Two?”

“Robert Lewis. The whole motivation Hank and Connor were originally working with? It was wrong. They’re—”

“It’s about the police. Us,” Nines managed to get out.

“You knew?” asked Hank. “So what the hell happened?”

“Pax, the VB800, he must have been following me, keeping tabs on my movement in the area. He wanted to give me a choice. A choice between android or officer.”

“What do you mean or? That doesn’t make sense,” Connor said.

“Because to him, I’m a traitor otherwise. Already branded you as such for joining the police so soon after the revolution,” murmured Nines. “The goal? Kill officers. But the motive for that? It’s been about revenge since the beginning. Revenge for the lives that were taken during and before the revolution. He…he said something about me missing a grand finale. But nothing more.”

“The note said there would be two more instances. That finale will likely be the second one then,” sighed Fowler.

“What note?”

“There was a false call to another Cyberlife warehouse,” Connor explained. “Clearly the attempt was to—”

“No! Like I told them, they’re already off the case. And you never should have been on it to begin with,” Fowler groaned. “The FBI are coming in on this. An agent is headed to our office now. Since you’ve joined the living again, you can give a statement and then you can get the hell out. You’re lucky I’m still going to keep you on paid leave for this and not suspend your ass.”

“Jeffrey, you are making a mistake taking us off this case! We’ll—”

“No! As for you two, I want you out of my sight for the rest of the god damn day,” Fowler said, gesturing to Hank and Connor. “You’ll return tomorrow for your usual duties and I’ll get back to _you_ when you’ll be taken off leave.”

“We should at least see the note,” Connor tried. “We deserve—”

“Absolutely not! And if I find out either of you,” this time he gestured towards Connor and Nines, “hacked into the systems and gained access to that classified information, then I will fire you on the spot, damn the backlash! That includes you Hank.”

“Oh come on—”

“I am not fucking around here! Understood? An officer died today. Two more I’m having to write up disability retirement forms for. I would rather see myself fire all three of you than have to attend three more god damn funerals, do you understand now?”

“I would have thought it was all that paperwork you didn’t want to do—”

“ _Hank_!”

“Ok! Ok, we get it. Yeah?”

“Yes sir,” Connor sighed. He didn’t like this, but he also understood Fowler’s perspective. Suddenly, just being an officer was a risk and he couldn’t afford more losses.

Nines nodded in agreement.

“Good.” Fowler waited a couple of seconds. Connor and Hank stood awkwardly there with Nines still sitting inside the body bag. “I’m sorry, but Dr. Sung, are any of these three men suddenly dead? Again?”

The poor mortician who’d been silently standing off to the side jumped a little and murmured, “Well no—”

“Then hurry on up and get the hell out of here! The three of you are giving me a headache just being near.”

Connor and Hank quickly went to help Nines up and out. From behind, Connor heard Fowler mutter, “Did you already file the report?”

“Uh, well yes sir—”

“Jesus. How do you make a guy not dead?”

Hank snorted at that as they helped Nines back upstairs. To say a few people gasped would have been an understatement. One thrill shriek even came from one officer as they helped Nines to his desk.

“Let me get you another shirt,” Hank said. “I’ve kept spares here ever since we chased that one perp. through the sewers.”

“Thank you,” Nines replied as Connor chuckled at the memory. Hank walked off and Connor finally passed Nines the thirium so that he could refill his systems and get back to something closer to working order.

Connor leaned up against Nines’ desk as he drank and quickly did another analysis just to make sure everything was working correctly. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do until a proper replacement could be made. “I could possibly talk to Markus, perhaps even Kamski, to see about getting you one that’s fully compatible.”

“I can speak to Kamski if necessary. And besides, right now the last thing I want to do is distract him.”

Connor nodded in agreement. “Do you know what exactly he has planned?”

“I’ve seen a little of the work when I’ve been with Chloe. He is trying to completely integrate android limbs with them. Just with Gavin it’s going to be a much more difficult process.”

“I imagine so.”

Connor watched as Nines put the bottle down, only to clutch near where the regulator was. Connor fully stood up, tensing and ready to act but Nines quickly shook his head. “Don’t you dare. I can perfectly analyze myself thank you.”

“You nearly—”

“But I didn’t,” Nines quickly shot back. “The last thing I need right now is to feel coddled.”

“If you say so,” murmured Connor. He really felt like he should push considering the traumatic event that had just happened. However, he decided another time would be better. After all, he didn’t want to make a scene in the middle of the bullpen. It was bad enough that just about every officer was still staring with wide eyes.

Hank came back at that point. Despite the tense situation, Connor managed to laugh again at seeing Nines’ face as his eyes lighted on the new shirt.

“You know, I think I’m fine with this.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” grumbled Hank. “With the state your current clothes are in, you might as well go shirtless.”

“Well if it’s an option—”

Hank balled up the shirt and threw it directly in Nines’ face. Connor finally showed a full smile as the shirt dropped into Nines’ hands.

“Just put on the god damn shirt.”

“Ok, ok.” Nines slowly pulled the ripped clothes off and pulled on the Hawaiian styled shirt. Though Connor actually liked Hank’s style, he could tell Nines felt physically pained as he slowly buttoned it up over his exposed regulator.

“Christ, you just died. You really going to nitpick a damn shirt?”

“I can’t help it that you have atrocious taste.”

“I swear you’re more stuck up than Reed sometimes.”

Connor just rolled his eyes, the barbs only somewhat sharp. “What are you going to do now?” asked Connor. “Do you think you’ll need any help?”

“Where’s my car?”

“In evidence,” Hank replied.

“Fuck.” Nines let out a tired sigh. “I’ll just take a cab.”

“You sure you don’t want us to stick around?” asked Connor.

Nines shook his head. “No. I’ll probably go home and properly change. I haven’t been there for days. And besides, I’m pretty sure Fowler will have both your heads if he sees you again today.”

“Fair enough,” Hank replied. “Just message us when you’re done with the damn FBI so we know what’s going on.”

“Of course.”

“Thanks. I guess we’ll probably see you at the hospital?”

“Are you going back today?”

“Well…”

“Considering Tina just lost her partner, we should probably give her some time,” suggested Connor. “But I’m guessing we’ll see you there tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, see you then.”

“Good night Nines.”

Nines nodded his head as Connor and Hank started to leave the precinct, their pace quickening just a little as they spotted Fowler finally coming back into the bullpen.

To say the day had been a shit show would have been an understatement. Despite not being physically tired, after dealing with the loss of an officer and then just barely saving Nines from death, Connor needed a break. He should have expected Hank wasn’t ready to let this all go though as they got into his car.

“Ok, so we’re definitely going to get a look at that letter and see if we can figure anything out, right?”

“Did you forget what Fowler said? He’ll fire all of us if he even has an inkling that we hacked him.”

“True, but he didn’t say shit about possibly, accidently leaving his email open and me taking a peak, now did he?”

“Hank…”

“Come on. Yeah, it’s great fucking Perkins won’t be working this, but I remember you were arguing right alongside me in there. As their co-workers, we have a duty to all the victims, even god damn Reed. I’m not going to sit around and wait for the FBI to do something if we can do it first.”

Connor gave Hank a hard stare but when the older man didn’t waver, Connor could only shake his head and mutter, “You are an awful influence on me.”

“So it’s a deal?”

“Yes. But how are we going to do it?”

“Some type of distraction should do. Obviously we want to wait a while though. If we make any moves now, Fowler will get pretty damn suspicious fucking quick.”

“Obviously,” snorted Connor.

“Good. We can talk plans later. Maybe even use Nines in on this. Who knows.” Hank paused at that and then quickly added, “He is alright. Isn’t he?”

“Physically, he’s not operating at a hundred percent though once he has the proper parts and time, the fix will be easy enough.”

“You know I’m not talking about that.”

“In that case, it’s…hard to say. He can be very prideful at times and he is more private so it’s difficult to understand what emotions he might actually be feeling rather than the ones he’s presenting to everyone else.”

“Christ, almost sounds like Reed.”

“It does. Only with smugness rather than anger,” Connor murmured, only just then realizing it. “Do you think they might have become better partners?”

“Don’t know. Guess we’ll never find out,” sighed Hank. He leaned over, turned on the radio, and for the rest of the drive Connor turned to watching the city pass them by.

* * *

Eventually, Nines’ colleagues approached him. They expressed their relief that he was ok. A few even unsuspectingly hugged him. Chris was one of them when he finally came back after visiting Lewis’s wife. He was one of the lucky ones. After dropping off Tina at the hospital, he’d gotten the call saying Nines had been hurt but would be alright, meaning he didn’t have to deal with Nines’ death for a while like everyone else.

Nevertheless, Chris seemed upset as he hugged Nines tight before backing up and bowing his head. “It’s all my fault. I can’t-I’m so, so sorry.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I…I heard that the running theory is they’re…they’re trying to kill cops because of what happened during the revolution.” Chris was shaking now, tears pricking out the corner of his eyes. “You and Gavin and Tina and Robert, it’s…it’s all my fault. I could have gotten you killed. I…I got Robert—”

Nines quickly stood up and gripped Chris’ shoulders. “Did you plant a single bomb? Did you rip my regulator out?”

“You-damn it Nines. You know I didn’t, but what I did—”

“Is in the past. Even if you hadn’t worked hard to support Connor and I and be a shining example in this department, you aren’t the only one who pulled the trigger. People were scared. Tensions were impossibly high. Human lives were lost as well. Remember that.” Nines pressed as he looked down at Chris. “It’s not your fault.”

Chris’ face scrunched up and he shook his head. “I don’t know if I can accept that.”

“Maybe it will take you time to do so,” sighed Nines. He didn’t want to relent, but he could see how affected Chris was. Instead, he simply said, “Then simply know I don’t blame you.”

“Not even a little?”

“None.”

Chris wiped at the tears before they could really fall. “Thanks Nines. Sorry for just throwing this on you. Especially now.”

“It’s perfectly alright. You can talk to me again if you ever need to. Promise,” Nines smiled.

“Thanks. Hey, I think that’s the FBI woman who took over this district from Perkins.”

“I suppose my interview’s up. I will speak with you later. Promise.”

“Yeah. Definitely.”

And so Chris left, form still a little shaky as Nines met with the special agent. About an hour, hour and a half passed as Nines sat through grueling questioning that felt like they were going in circles more often than ever moving forward. He’d never met Perkins. He’d only heard stories about the man, many focusing on the time when Hank had broken his nose. From what little Nines had gleamed off that, he could say his replacement was much more competent and less concerned about fighting over jurisdiction.

Still, that didn’t keep her from wailing into him about how protocols were in place for a reason about as much as Fowler had.

Normally, Nines might have been a bit snippier. However, he was tired-actually _tired_ -and simply nodded along with her. The only real question he asked was, “And does the FBI have anything more than us at this point?”

She sounded just a little offended as she said, “All you need to know is we are working diligently on this case.”

So that was a no then.

Once she was headed towards Fowler’s office though, Nines called for a cab and went outside where it had finally stopped raining. All his systems were online now. Some were just running a little slower than usual. He hated not having his car, at least not until it was allowed out of evidence. At the very least Dr. Sung hadn’t taken anything from his pockets or his actual clothes before Connor had saved him.

And that was really the thing that Nines couldn’t quite get out of his head.

He had nearly…

Once the cab arrived, he took it straight back to his apartment. He hadn’t been there in days, not since Gavin and Tina had been injured. To be fair, there just usually wasn’t a need. Though he did change his clothes, he didn’t sweat and his perfect posture often kept the clothes from becoming wrinkled too quickly. Other than that, Nines’ studio apartment was quite bare. He just didn’t need anything else. If anything, he was more fond of having gotten his own car and having that freedom than a place to ‘call home’.

Connor and Hank had recommended he get a pet. That had been one of the few times Gavin had made a more personal comment, walking by and having said, “If you get anything other than a damn cat, I’m going to start asking Fowler for a new partner again.”

Thankfully, Nines hadn’t run with any of their ideas yet as the last week had proven much too busy without even adding in a pet factor. However, whereas before he hadn’t cared too much, he now felt different as he walked into his apartment and noticed there just wasn’t anything now.

Was this really all he would have left behind?

He went to the closet where he had just five different outfits, again being able to wear each for a long period of time before needing to change. Two casual, two more professional, one tux that he’d gotten for a police banquet that every person in their precinct had been dragged to no matter how much they’d protested. Now Nines was down one of the more professional looking ones. He’d find time later to purchase something to replace it.

He took off Hank’s shirt and put it to the side. Though he’d only been wearing it for less than three hours, he knew humans were pickier about things like this and Nines would wash it later for him. He placed the damp clothes with it before picking out one of the casual outfits. He had only put the new pants on when he really looked at the mirror on the inside door of the closet.

His eyes focused on the revealed plastic. He concentrated, tried to force his skin to cooperate, but it only caused him to wince instead as a surge of energy sprung from the area. On closer inspection, Nines could see how it didn’t perfectly fit. It would do for the moment, but he’d run his own diagnostics on himself and knew he couldn’t last longer than five months with it.

Not that it should have bothered him. He’d get a replacement soon. He certainly wasn’t going to forget he’d need it, and yet…

Nines knew desperation. He knew what it was to be happy and saddened, confused, disappointed, curious. He may not have been alive long, but he understood many emotions. But this…

Was this what fear felt like?

He couldn’t be sure.

Still, he’d helped to confirm Maxwell’s and Pax’s true goal. Now everyone at their precinct was aware there was a specific hatred and possible target on Connor’s back and anyone who had gunned down an android before. There was also the planned finale he’d learned about. Now they knew the last act would be bigger and likely more public than the last ones. After learning all that, Nines wouldn’t have changed what had happened. They had needed to know these things. But if the results had been different…

Nines quickly covered up the scaring as he pulled on his shirt and then a jacket. He focused on his own face, smoothing his hair into place. It was only slightly damp now.

Considering it was late, Nines decided to go ahead and just do the laundry. However, once he was done, he would go back to the hospital. Not only did he want to be there if anything major happened to Gavin, but there was a distinct, new feeling now.

He knew he didn’t want to be alone. Not right now. Whether that meant watching the doctors work on Gavin, sitting with Tina, talking to Chloe if she was back, Nines didn’t know.

He just didn’t want to be alone.

* * *

It was like Elijah was running on his own borrowed time now.

At first, the reasoning had been a bit simpler. What he’d told Gavin, what had driven him away in the first place, Elijah couldn’t let that happen. It was a problem and Elijah had been committed to fix it. But then when the doctors that Chloe had called in had given him updates on Gavin’s condition…

The desperation to finish in time had grown exponentially.

Elijah wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t so wrapped up in his work that he didn’t know he was pushing his body to its limits. So little sleep, hardly any food, absolutely no fresh air…

But he had to keep going. What if he finally went to bed and Gavin passed in the night? What if time wasted eating meant he failed to complete an integral part in time? He couldn’t risk that.

Of course, that didn’t mean his body was completely working with him. At no point was that more obvious than when he was showing Dr. Farrell and Brown exactly how the procedure for Tina would go. It was just the three of them and Elijah was doing mostly fine, showing them everything they would have to do along with how to hook up the wires inside Tina. Then he turned too quickly and crashed hard into the side table, his head spinning.

He could feel both of them forcing him to sit down as he held his head.

“Is there any chance we could get you to at least sleep during her procedure?” asked Dr. Farrell with a tired sigh.

“No. If something goes wrong involving the parts I’ve created, only I can fix it. I need to be awake and aware.”

He needed a burst, anything to keep him going these final stretches. Once Tina’s procedure was completely done, he’d spend tomorrow finishing up Gavin’s parts, doing any changes that might be needed after observing Tina once she woke up. Then once Gavin’s procedure was finished and Elijah knew he was stable, then rest. But until then, he needed to stay awake.

He pushed the doctors back and got up, going to a drawer. He’d asked Cora to get what was in there, knowing she was the least likely to say anything. Even then, she’d been incredibly hesitant but Elijah had needed a backup in case his body just couldn’t take anymore as it was.

“Mr. Kamski,” began Dr. Farrell, “you may not be my patient but—”

“No,” interrupted Elijah. “Now, I will not kick you from this because bringing in a new doctor at this stage would just put Tina and Gavin at more risk. But I am not pausing in my work. I am not letting myself fall asleep. I am not stopping until I know my brother isn’t going to fucking die, on your fucking table!” His voice had risen impossibly high by the end of that, even though he hadn’t intended for it to. His shoulders shook, his head bowed, glasses slipping to the end of his nose as his hair hung lose around him.

It was rare for him to act so rude and cruel, but his social skills had gone out the window a while ago. They needed to know that any other choice was not an option for him at this moment. Not until he knew Gavin was safe.

Silence passed between them for a moment, all up until Dr. Brown sighed and said, “You know, I was expecting something more along the lines of you threatening to destroy our practices with your money and influence if we tried to stop you.”

“Not exactly the smartest thing, threatening the two people keeping my brother alive,” whispered Elijah.

“Well, his common sense isn’t completely gone then.”

“I take it that if I take that away from you, you’ll just find something else?”

“Yes.”

“Well hold off for just a little while. I am a doctor after all,” sighed Brown.

“And drink this,” said Farrell, having moved off to get a glass of water and forcing it into Elijah’s hand. “A few seconds to drink that won’t kill Reed.”

Elijah let out a tiny sigh but relented. He downed it quickly and for the moment, didn’t take anything. Instead, he started talking about the necessary procedures Farrell would be doing, just needing to keep his mind and body moving so he didn’t pass out. It didn’t take long until Brown finally came back.

She pushed two pills into Elijah’s hands. “Here, take this. You’ll be at risk of having a heart attack due to what you’ve already put yourself through, but at least the chances are still on the low end. With what you had, you were more likely to cause yourself to have a full blown stroke.”

Elijah just shrugged. He didn’t care about himself right now. He just had to keep pushing. He swallowed without hesitation and before either doctor could say anything more, he began to finish the lecture.

By the time Tina had been dropped off by the other officer, the doctors were getting the surgery room prepped and Elijah had already finished up his own prepping. One of the few nurses that was involved in all this and actually knew a fare amount wheeled Tina into the hospital room Elijah was waiting in while he did some final calculations. Chloe was going to join him to watch over Tina and help him keep track of how the android pieces were functioning during the procedure. However, she’d said that for the moment she couldn’t see her for fear of breaking. It was understandable, Chloe still processing the loss of Nines.

Once the nurse had helped Tina onto the bed, she left, leaving Elijah alone with her for the moment.

The last time Elijah had seen her was after she’d slammed her stump onto the table. He hadn’t known what to say or do as Clover had comforted her, only managing a small, “I’m sorry,” when he’d fully understood what had happened.

Now it was similar. Elijah looked from his notes to her and back again. The glances happened several times, Tina eventually catching them and just cocking an eyebrow at him. Elijah cleared his throat, looked away again, and finally murmured, “You look tired.”

The noise that escaped Tina’s throat was unexpected. A grin managed to appear on her lips and she said, “Like you’re one to fucking talk.”

Elijah shrugged. “I’m ready for this. Are you?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

“Why even ask? We’re on a short schedule for Gavin, aren’t we?”

“Yes. Cora suggested I ask you that question though.”

“You get all your social skills from the androids?”

Elijah’s lips barely quirked up. “Something like that.”

“Well, you can tell all of them there’s no fucking need to worry. Besides,” and here her voice darkened, grew a little more exhausted, “I’ll need two hands to strangle the bastards who did this. I’m not sitting on the sidelines for another damn second.”

Elijah nodded in agreement. At that moment, Dr. Brown came in. “I hope you’re feeling up for this Officer Chen.”

“All the fucking way. What’s first?”

“We’re going to give you the anesthesia here. We’ll wheel you into surgery and by that time, you’ll already be under. The whole procedure shouldn’t take more than five hours. By the time you wake up, it’ll likely be tomorrow morning.”

“Well let’s hurry it up. See you on the other side Elijah.”

“I’d say good luck, but you won’t need it.”

“There’s the self assured narcissistic self I expected out of you,” grinned Tina. “And you’re damn right I don’t need it. Even if I do die, I’ll just haunt your ass.”

Elijah rolled his eyes. “Good night Tina,” he sarcastically said.

“Night!”

He left first as Brown was going ahead and inserting the anesthesia. Elijah went to the viewing room for the secondary major surgery space the hospital had. The room was already prepped with nurses and Dr. Farrell standing by. As for Elijah, all his written notes and numbers had been compiled onto a data pad that he could easily flip through during the procedure, along with scans of Tina and the already created android parts and bio-components.

Chloe and Cora were waiting for him there, Clover having volunteered to organize the work space in this final stretch.

As Elijah continued to double and triple and quadruple check his work, Chloe finally murmured in a sad voice, “What did you take?”

To be fair, with how much she’d seen him go downhill through the past few days, it had to be incredibly easy to see he was much more aware than earlier that morning.

“Would it help if I said Dr. Brown gave it to me?”

When he looked up this time, Chloe was still avoiding his gaze. However, it did give him a chance to nod towards Cora, signaling he hadn’t taken what she’d managed to get for him. Though still torn up like Chloe, she simply looked relieved at that small fact. She probably felt a little less guilty now about getting that for him in the first place. Chloe broke his gaze with Cora though, straightening her back and stepping towards him.

“You know it won’t do Gavin any good if you die. Right?”

“It won’t do him any good if I’m too slow.” The sentence started out with a bite. His exhaustion had turned to more clear irritation and annoyance with his renewed energy. However, by the end of the sentence, he’d worked his voice down lower. He also immediately apologized. “I don’t mean to yell at you. Your concerns are valid ones.”

“You just refuse to listen to them.”

“Yes.”

Chloe softly sighed, slipping an arm around Elijah’s. They watched as Tina was then rolled in. They watched as she was hooked up so her vitals could be monitored. Next, the nurses moved the surgical equipment they immediately needed near. Chloe watched Elijah work for a few seconds. When he felt he could pause, he added, “And how are you handling everything?”

“My other’s have been helpful.”

Cora nodded. “But comforting each other for such an event…”

“Not everything lasts,” Chloe murmured, “but none of us expected to have to deal with and process a loss so soon.”

“When an infinite number of possibilities are available, unpredictability is unavoidable. No matter how much planning there is.”

“You say that, yet you’re trying to control every single variable in this instance.”

“I never said I wasn’t stubborn.”

Chloe let out a small huff. She leaned against Elijah as Cora gripped her other arm and leaned against her too. The procedure began and Elijah followed it every step of the way.

In its barest form, what they had to do in order to power the android parts was to introduce thirium and electrical systems. Those were to be threaded through the natural systems of the body. The regulator and actual pump had been combined into a smaller form which would be placed at Tina’s back, where her second kidney would have been if she hadn’t donated it already. Putting that in the back would allow for easy access if the regulator or heart had to be worked on or replaced. The electrical system would be fused with the nervous system, allowing for zero lag in sending messages from the brain to the android part. The thirium system would be spread from the android part to the regulator and secondary heart, in between the blood vessels and other organs.

The theory was sound. It was the practice that was keeping Elijah on his toes. It should all work, but they wouldn’t know for sure until the doctors finished it up. And if it didn’t, so much flesh was being cut out and moved around, Tina would be worse off than before. She’d known that risk going into this, but Elijah would try everything to keep it form happening.

The minutes passed by at a painful pace. Every time the numbers started to get into dangerous areas, Elijah contacted the doctors through the speakers, guiding them through the mechanical parts when a complication started to arise. It was slow, but still going relatively smoothly. The real test would be actually analyzing the new hand once Tina was awake and could use it. But for now, things looked to be going well.

All the while, Chloe and Cora only spoke to give their own observations. Elijah took it all in and kept going and going—

The door started to open. The intrusion had Elijah turning his head away from the work for a split second, confused as to who would be coming in.

As his eyes fully processed who he was seeing and what that entailed, Chloe screamed. Elijah gripped at his heart and quickly found himself and Cora holding onto each other. Cora’s fists were tangled up in his shirt, the reaction clearly built from shock. Elijah was holding onto her though because he honestly needed someone to keep him up.

His voice was breathless and utterly taken aback. “You’re a—”

“Nines!” Chloe rushed forward. She hugged him tightly as he looked down. His eyes showed honest confusion for several seconds. Then it hit him.

A sorrowful, apologetic look replaced his confusion and he murmured, “You heard.”

“Of course! You weren’t answering so I tried and tried to contact you and when I couldn’t, I called your precinct. They said…the woman on the phone sounded so sure. How-how did they get something so wrong like that?” asked Chloe, wiping at her tears of relief.

“It wasn’t any one’s fault really. It’s…a long story. I’ll explain in a bit, but I don’t want to interrupt now. I didn’t realize you were moving forward on this so quickly.” It didn’t take long for Nines to catch on. “So is Gavin going to make it?”

“I’ll be damned if he doesn’t,” Elijah responded, finally gaining some composure as his heart rate lowered.

Nines gently inclined his head before sitting down with Chloe at his side. Elijah watched him for several more seconds. He’d moved differently than the last times Elijah had seen him. Something was off—

No time to entertain the thoughts though. He’d ask if the difference was still there after this, after Gavin, but for now, he had a job to do. Cora returned to looping an arm through his, though the grip was much more comfortable now. They were already nearly an hour into this. Elijah could do it. Tina would get out of this fine.

Then Gavin.


End file.
